Grieving daughter finds an unexpected note in a thrifted Fossil purse after dad's death: "I'm here..."

Dealing with grief can be different for different people, and while everyone takes their own time, some find support in the most unexpected places. In the time of grief, people try different things to cope with the pain and distract themselves by keeping busy. A grieving daughter known online as @abrielleclausing lost her father during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and turned to retail therapy to try and bounce back from the tough time. Although it may seem like an unconventional approach, she found something at a thrift store, which was exactly what she needed.

It was during a "particularly hard week" when Abrielle, 24, decided to visit a thrift store, something she enjoyed doing with her late father. However, she was looking for a specific item that reminded her of her father. "My sister and I decided to go thrifting and I told her I wanted to find a vintage Fossil brand purse," she explained in a now-viral slideshow. 

She luckily stumbled upon a "cute" vintage Fossil brand purse, however, the story didn't end there. The incident took an even more remarkable turn when she found a handwritten note inside the purse. "When you read this you will be far from me in miles but not in my heart. I'm here. I love you," the note read. The daughter took it as a sign from her late father. "I knew it was from him," she said in an interview with People. "I always check the inside of the bag before I buy it to make sure it’s in good condition. When I stuck my hand in it, I felt the piece of paper and when I took it out and found the note, I read it out loud to my sister."

"When I saw the note, it just confirmed that he was with us, He’s always with us," she added. Needless to say, the slideshow in a video was loved by online viewers who were left overwhelmed and took to the comment section to talk about the heartwarming moment. "Wow this is one of the best ones I’ve seen  I highly recommend the book Signs Secret Language of the Universe if you haven’t read it yet," a top comment by @kiels333 read. The official page of Fossil also noticed the video and left a heartwarming note which read, "What a beautiful note to find. Your dad's love will always be with you. Sending you and your family a big, warm hug."

Others shared little anecdotes in hopes of making Abrielle feel better, "my brother passed away & years later I was at a checkout line in the store & at the cash register was a young school photo of him that someone left. Never made sense but I'll never forget it," @respewsha wrote. "this gave me chills 🤍 so sorry for your loss but the love shared between you & your dad is eternal," @ohmygodtara added, while another person @l_gutv92 talked about their own grief and said, "When my mom passed, days after I found an email that not me nor my sister had opened or read before. It was an email my mom sent us 4 years before with the message 'open it when I’m gone, love, mom.'"

You can follow (@abrielleclausing) on TikTok for more such content.