Grandad Plays ‘Prince’ for the Night, Steps in to Take Granddaughter to Father-Daughter Dance (Exclusive)

• Allie was excited to go to a father-daughter dance, though her dad is no longer in the picture
• That’s when her Grandad, Dennis, stepped up to take his granddaughter as his date
• Mom Lindsey posted about the sweet experience on TikTok, where her video has since gone viral with more than 3.3 million views

One little girl from southeast Louisiana had a very special date to her father-daughter dance: her grandfather.

Their adorable night out was documented on TikTok by her mom, Lindsey, who goes by @singlemomsquared on the platform. In the video — which has since amassed more than 485,000 likes and 3.3 million views — Lindsey writes, “Her father left us, but another man stepped in,” sharing a series of texts with her own father, Dennis, 61. 

Dennis asks, “What is Allie wearing to the father-daughter dance Friday night?” Lindsey replies, “I didn’t know she was going?” And Dennis responds simply: “Well sure, Grandad is bringing her.” 

The video is captioned, “She has everything she needs and more.”

Lindsey tells PEOPLE exclusively that, though she was extremely touched by her father’s decision to take her daughter, Allie, to the dance, she was not surprised: “My dad is the most incredible man I have ever met in my life,” she shares.

The now-viral video includes clips of the pair meeting before the dance. In the video, Dennis bows to his granddaughter, who was 5 years old at the time of filming. The little girl is all dressed up in a navy blue and pink dress with a tiara, and commenters were quick to point out how Dennis matched his jacket and tie to her look. Lindsey shares that Allie “wanted to look like a princess going to the ball, because she said Grandad is her prince.”

“She was so excited when he bowed!” she adds.

When Linsdey heard about the father-daughter dance, she initially felt emotional. “I truly wanted my daughter to have the kind of dad that I had growing up,” she tells PEOPLE. “I just made plans to do something special with Allie that night instead: a mommy-daughter date night.”

That’s when her father texted her. “I was [confused at first], and then I just broke down sobbing,” she says. “It was [in] that moment that I realized she didn’t have the dad that I wanted her to have, but she did have mine, and that’s so much better.” 

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Dennis wasn’t the only man in Lindsey’s family to reach out about the dance. “Right after I got that message from my dad, I got a text from my brother asking if he could take Allie, too. They hadn’t even spoken to each other about it. My brother just stepped up to offer, which isn’t surprising since we both grew up with a dad like ours.” 

As for Allie, “She was beyond excited,” Lindsey says. “I was honestly worried about it because all of her friends would be there with their ‘real dads’ and she would have Grandad, but she was easily the most excited girl there.” 

Lindsey shares with PEOPLE that, following a tumultuous split from Allie’s biological dad, her father was there to help her in any way he could. And his kindness doesn’t just extend to his family — he is known to go above and beyond to help strangers in need. Lindsey shared of Dennis, “My dad is persistent when it comes to ‘extending a helping hand.’ If he extends it, he is doing it with his whole heart.” 

Lindsey shares that, though Allie’s father is no longer involved in their lives, “I have my dad who has just continued to become a better husband, father, and grandfather the more time passes.” He even “chose to go by ‘GranDAD’ so that my daughter always had someone she could refer to as ‘Dad.’ ”