Grieving Daughter Finds Note In Fossil Purse While Thrifting
Unexpected Thrift Store Find
Photo of a little girl with her father and a black purse.
TikTok/Abrielle Clausing
On January 13, 2021, Abrielle Clausing's world fell apart. Her father unexpectedly passed away from Covid-19. As anyone who has experienced grief knows, the journey isn't a straight one. It ebbs and flows with some days being significantly harder than others.
It was during a "particularly hard grief week" when Abrielle, 24, decided to embark on some retail therapy. She used to love thrifting with her dad, and no one loved a good deal more than he did.
However, she didn't just want to shop for the sake of shopping, she had a very specific item she wanted in mind.
"My sister and I decided to go thrifting and I told her I wanted to find a vintage Fossil brand purse," she explains in a now-viral TikTok video.
And wouldn't you know, Abrielle did indeed end up finding "the cutest vintage Fossil brand purse" - seriously what are the chances?
And as if that wasn't serendipitous enough, it was about to get a whole lot more remarkable.
Inside the purse was a handwritten note:
"When you read this you will be far from me in miles but not in my heart. I'm here. I love you."
Whelp.
She immediately took it as a sign from her beloved dad.
"I knew it was from him," she told 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," she added. "He’s always with us."
Response To The Viral TikTok
TikTok · abrielleclausingAbrielle's heartwarming video has garnered nearly one million views and over 1,000 comments and it's making believers out of every single one of us.
"I'm so afraid that death is final and we just stop existing. But some things can't be explained. There has to be more out there!!"
"This was def him 🥹💙"
"I’m literally crying so hard. Someone would have had to carry me out of the thrift 😭"
"I'm honestly at a loss for words. Wow. Just wow."
Even Fossil weighed in, writing, "What a beautiful note to find. Your dad's love will always be with you. Sending you and your family a big, warm hug."
Her TikTok also opened the floodgates for others to share the signs they've received from lost loved ones.
"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."
"About 30 seconds after bursting in tears thinking about my grandpa a car merged in front of me and the license plate was his name and his age when he died 😭😭"
"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”. It had a beautiful letter as an attachment."
Love Lives On
The note Abrielle Clausing found in a Fossil bag while thrifting is now part of a cherished collage.
People.com/Abrielle Clausing
Abrielle has given the note a place of honor, right smack in the middle of a framed collage of her favorite sayings and things.
It's a beautiful reminder that the love she shared with her dad lives on, even though he is gone.
And whether you believe in fate or not, you have to admit the universe had an uncanny way of showing up just when she needed it to.
After all, what are the odds that a stranger penned a note with the exact words she needed to hear, placed it in the exact bag she was looking for, AND that bag ended up in the exact thrift store she was shopping in? Pretty astronomical.
And yet, here we are.
Life is full of unexpected, magical moments that often happen when we least expect it. And sometimes those moments bring us the comfort and connection we need most, reminding us that love...is never truly lost.
4 Important Things Rehab Taught Me About Forgiveness
When I was first admitted into rehab in 2012, I quickly had to come to terms with a lot of brand new concepts that were very foreign to me. I learned about the causes of my addiction in the first place, and also how to overcome cravings and prevent relapses.
While I learned a lot from all of these, one thing that really helped me to avoid relapsing (again), and to instead focus on creating a brighter future for my life, was learning to forgive.
There were many people in my life who I was secretly wishing I could say "I’m sorry for everything" to, or who I wanted to forgive for doing wrong by me, but I was way too scared to think about doing that.
Today, I would love to share four important things about forgiveness that I learned while I was in recovery.
4 Important Things Rehab Taught Me About Forgiveness
Why is it important to forgive?
During your addiction, there were likely many things that you said and did that you now regret. The feelings of remorse are huge, and they're always there at the back of your mind, eating away at you from the inside.
You might have strained a relationship that had a lot of meaning for you, with your family, friends, or a special loved one. You might have lost track of who you were, or sabotaged your career and financial stability. No matter what it is, it’s unhealthy to be walking around in life holding a grudge against yourself and others. In order to successfully approach recovery, it’s essential to let go of all the baggage that’s holding you back.
How can I forgive?
As a recovering addict, I shared my addiction recovery treatment with many people, mainly the 12-step program. Forgiveness is deeply rooted in this program, as its aim is to bring you a lasting recovery. Learning how to ask for forgiveness, how to seek it, and how to forgive yourself is vital to each process as demonstrated with the 12-step group.
Forgiving is easier said than done for people like me, and it was very hard to wrap my head around the idea. Even after I had accepted it as an important step towards my recovery, I still didn’t know how to go about it.
I can’t turn back time and change the mistakes I made, and there were a lot of people from my past who I was just too scared to approach again. I can’t just show up on the doorsteps of those I hurt and ask them for forgiveness. I lost that chance years ago.
This is when I discovered that I could forgive anonymously. I decided to write letters and anonymously post them to their door. Not only was it therapeutic to put all my thoughts down on paper, it also helped me to fully understand that I truly meant every word I wrote.
If you don’t want to approach anonymously, you can always keep it private. It’s no one’s business but yours. You can also create a list of what you regret and how you can learn to make peace with it.
The best part about forgiving is that once it’s done, it’s over. Letting go is such an amazing feeling. Your spirits will become lighter as you finally lose the weight of all the guilt and negativity you’ve been carrying with you. The intense relief that comes with it is better than any high I ever had.
Let go of your mistakes
We are our best and worst critics. When I was at my worst during my addiction days, I was always keeping a record of every bad thing I did. This only made me feel worse though, so I drank or used more to numb the feeling. Keeping tabs on every mistake I made was so counter-productive, and it held me back from getting the help I needed.
After I began the 12-steps program and learned the importance of forgiveness, I soon discovered that I was slowly letting go of that record-keeping habit. I swapped it with keeping a record of all the achievements and milestones that made me proud -- like when I reached ten days sober, six months sober, one year sober, and when I got a job again and patched up my damaged relationships with people I cared a lot for.
Switching out of my negative mindset and to a positive attitude really did a lot for me both mentally and physically.
Embrace your future
Once you’ve forgiven yourself and others, and moved past the stage where you need to hear the words, “I forgive you,” what’s left for you to do? Well, the simple answer to that question is to embrace all the incredible opportunities that are available to you now that you are sober.
Go out and approach your future goals with motivation, optimism, and excitement. The best things happen when you are least expecting them to. Everyone has a different experience when they are recovering, but everyone has the same goals: to not let your addiction control you anymore.
Accept that you are human, and no one is perfect. Only you can control the bright future that you have ahead of you, and that is the true magic and power of forgiveness during your recovery.
And what about you? Do you have your own tip about addiction and recovery that you have learned personally and would like to to share? Leave a comment below. We’d love to hear it!