Out of sadness, stupendous joy.Because Kade Foster has made a whole whack of new friends — including the entire Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.Players welcomed the just-turned-11-year-old into their dressing room on Saturday morning, before their gameday skate.“It’s hard to believe,’’ said Kade. “They were all really nice to me.’’The kids back in Massey Drive — a hamlet outside Corner Brook, Nfld. — must be green with envy as Kade was drawn into a big blue and white embrace. Most of all, no doubt, the kids who failed to turn up for the boy’s birthday party last weekend.Not a single one of the invited guests showed for the festivities his parents had organized.“He kept going back and forth to the window, to see if anybody was coming,’’ says mom, Sara. “He didn’t cry, not that I saw. He was pretty brave about it.’’But how heartbreaking is that?Kids can be so cruel. Or just thoughtless. Except the invitations had been delivered to their parents and adults are expected to be wiser about such things. Nobody called to say they couldn’t make it either.Kade’s father, Jason, was so dismayed he tweeted out his disappointment the following day. “My son Kade had his 11th birthday party last night. None of his friends came. That hurt. I’m asking my Twitter friends to show him some love today. If you have a minute, please send him a birthday wish.’’Like “It’s a Wonderful Life,’’ updated for the modern social media universe, the response was staggering. As of late Saturday afternoon, there were 180,000 likes, more than 53,000 replies and nearly 26,000 retweets, sending Kade birthday greetings. His mother said the original tweet had been seen 7 million times. “Overwhelming,’’ said Jason, in his thick Newfoundland accent. “I figured maybe we’d get a dozen or so, from the local commun ...
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