young boy packing a school bag on a set of stairs
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
December 20, 2023 ·  3 min read

Little boy packs bag to ‘visit his dad in Heaven,’ brings Facebook to tears: ‘The sweetest and saddest thing I’ve seen’

Losing a parent or a spouse is one of the most difficult experiences in our lives. It is even tougher for the children, for whom death is not something they fully understand. Adults tell them the person has left for heaven and cannot come back. So for the innocent children, they are still alive in this place called ‘heaven’.

A viral TikTok has shared just how firm and touching this belief is. Needless to say, it had the internet shedding tears like a waterfall. TikTok creator Ashely Irwin (@just_your_average_mom) is a single parent from Texas. Her clips often talk about the daily challenges she faces caused by mental health and grief.

In the short 3 minute clip, the first text that the viewers see is: “When your son wants to visit heaven.” It shows Ashley in front of the camera showing a Spider-man-themed red bag. She explains that it is her son’s bag. Here’s the clip:

The Connection To Heaven

For her regular viewers, Ashley has often shown her son being a jovial and energetic little kid. As for this video, she explains that the context was a bit different. Her son has asked her to bring him his suitcase because he had a “big trip tomorrow.”

Ashley was curious. She asked if it was the church, but her son replied: “No, that’s going to have to wait, but He’ll [God] forgive me.” This is when Ashley starts breaking down. Her son told her that he was going on a trip to visit heaven. He wanted to see his dad.

Even though his son had told her not to peek, Ashley wanted to see what was in it. She hoped her son would forgive her as she opened it. The first thing she found was some capes and masks. Ashley, sniffling, assumed that he probably be a heroic savior in heaven.

Ashely Irwin on tik tok
Image Credits: Screenshot | TikTok

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Each successive item she found, brought Ashley closer and closer to crying. These were a whistle, a baseball, and 2 new baseball gloves. Finally, she found out that her son had put in “dad’s first wallet”. Ashely could not hold back her tears any longer. The bag also had the newer wallet that Ashley had gifted her husband in Christmas.

The wallet was filled with pictures of the family. He also planned to take along two red loafers. In one of them, her son had packed from the cologne that dad used to wear. Ashley explains that her husband would do the same before traveling.

In the end, Ashley explains that her son and her late husband would always bring her freshly picked flowers whenever they went on trips. She says that she knew that her son would do the same the next day.

The Comments Section Was Very Touched

In the comments, Ashley clarified that her husband had passed away on May 16th, 2020. The comments were a mix of admiration, sympathy, and immense support for Ashley and her son.

TikTok user @trishamarti said:

This is the sweetest and saddest thing I’ve seen

@amyperk08 told her how she had nothing to apologize for:

I haven’t cried this hard in a long time. Don’t ever say your sorry to the world! You are strong and you got this momma! Much love coming to all of ya”.

User @mandirawks shared her experience of losing a parent:

If only we could take trips to Heaven. I lost my dad July 30, 2021. Losing a parent is so hard no matter your age.

Grief is a very heavy emotion to deal with. But children always have a way to see the silver lining. As in the case of Irwin’s son, it is the belief that matters. We never truly lose a loved one – they always live on within us and our memories of them.

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