Daughter pranks mom with fake Airbnb that is actually her 1st home
"Based on my mom's reaction, I think I did a pretty good job."
When Nyomi Jackson bought a house in Jacksonville, Florida, it took a year to finalize all the details and bring her vision to life.
So when it was time, she decided to surprise her mom Wanda Fields and her younger sister Nia with a little prank, leading them to think they were checking into an Airbnb rental home, instead of her new dwellings.
A video of the surprise, which Jackson shared on TikTok earlier this year, quickly went viral, amassing over 3 million views so far, and more than half a million likes.
In the video, Fields is seen quickly becoming emotional as she realizes the house is actually her daughter's own home.
"What many of you see in the video is my mom. She's coming in from Virginia, where she currently resides, as well as my younger sister Nia, to come spend some time at what they think is an Airbnb with the rest of our family, in celebration of my mom's birthday," Jackson told "Good Morning America." "But what she doesn't know ... is that I [had] actually moved into the house within the last three previous weeks."
For Jackson, buying a home was a big endeavor, considering she and her two sisters were raised singlehandedly by their mom in a one-bedroom apartment in New York City.
"One of the things [my mom] has continuously imparted to me as well as my sisters is, 'When you have a vision, move toward it, move toward it relentlessly,'" Jackson said. "And I knew I had a vision of my family being in my house."
Jackson, who calls Fields her "biggest superhero," said she kept the purchase of her first home under wraps and said it was important to her to share her new home altogether with her family and especially with her mother.
"It was important for me, despite the fact that I have been working on it for a year, that we all come to a singular place and we all revel in the fact that here's this house," Jackson explained. "So, I was very quiet. I would take calls in my closet. … My mom would call and I'd go into a small area so she couldn't hear the echo. I just needed them to realize the full vision all at once. And so … based on my mom's reaction, I think I did a pretty good job."
Fields, meanwhile, said she was overwhelmed by her daughter's big surprise.
"She never said anything, and I had to come back home and look at the pictures and see, 'Can I see any secret in her face in these pictures?'" Fields recalled. "So, I was so excited."
"When I see the video, sometimes I go over and just watch it. It's like a pill you take that makes you happy," Fields added. "Everyone was celebratory of her, of her success, our family, friends from all over the world, and it just touches me, and it just makes me happy. It makes me cry."
Jackson said her home purchase is a testament to what can be achieved when you persevere.
"For my mom to see me purchase my first house and do something really incredible, I think it speaks volumes to what's possible," Jackson said. "If you have a vision, you stick to it and you make it happen."
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