A 12-year-old boy with a beautiful voice who sang through tears at his parents’ vow renewal ceremony has tugged at millions of heartstrings.
Aiden Armstrong summoned the courage to sing for his parents, mom, Kemorene Mills-Armstrong, 43, and stepdad, Kirkland Armstrong, 44, at a beautiful ceremony that was attended by family and friends in their hometown of Port St. Lucie, Florida, on March 23.
Aiden wore a navy velvet jacket and bowtie, with a white rose pinned to his lapel, to match the groomsmen. His song of choice was Calum Scott’s “You Are The Reason.”
Aiden told The Epoch Times that he chose the special song at the vow renewal ceremony because he found it very “kind and sentimental,” and also because he really loves his parents.
Since this is the first time Aiden has sung in front of an audience, he said the adrenaline was rushing through his body because he was “scared.”
“I didn’t want to mess up, so I just tried my best and it worked out,” the 12-year-old said. “I just kind of braced myself. ... I knew I couldn’t be crying all the time. I just had to just get over it and then start singing.”
Kemorene, a realtor, and Kirkland, a mechanic, are both originally from Jamaica. They were introduced to each other by one of Kirkland’s cousins a decade ago while living in New York. According to Kemorene, the connection was “instant.” The couple got married in a courthouse in September 2014. Together they parent three boys: Kemorene’s sons: Aiden and his 16-year-old brother, Gavin, and Carson, 7, who is Kirkland’s biological son.
After a failed attempt to organize a vow renewal in Jamaica, the couple eventually found the perfect venue in Port St. Lucie and the romantic event became a well-attended family affair.
For Kemorene, it was no surprise to hear her middle son singing at the vow renewal ceremony because they were looking at various songs before the big day.
“There was a situation that happened in our family and it was a very emotional time for us,” she said. “He really loves to sing, so we kept hearing him sing that song ... it meant so much to us.
“[T]hat was the perfect song to sing for what we were going through at the time.”
Needless to say, the audience was very emotional on hearing Aiden sing.
“I was very emotional too, you just didn’t see it because of the way the videographer held the camera,” Kemorene said. “I was holding my head up because I didn’t want the tears to come rushing down because I didn’t want to ruin my makeup!”
As Kemorene held her head up, the tears stayed there, and Kirkland helped wipe them off and later wiped his own tears.
Footage of Aiden’s heartfelt rendition has gone viral, racking up over 15 million views across social media platforms, and counting. Kemorene—whose idea it was for she and Kirkland to renew their vows—was touched by the comments from viewers.
“I was like, wow, people are so sweet. Honestly, I cried several times reading some, even now I cry,” she said.
Aiden’s viral solo has now given the 12-year-old a new outlook on his future.
He told The Epoch Times: “Originally I wanted to be in law enforcement, but then I found out that I like singing.”
His performance has now “opened opportunities” for him when he grows up.
“I’m very, very excited,” he said. “I can make a career out of this.”
