Grieving Daughter Finds Note in Thrifted Purse ...

A woman grieving the death of her father found a glimmer of hope in an unlikely place when she thrifted a purse with a note inside that read, "I'm here

Published Time: 19.07.2024 - 17:31:05 Modified Time: 19.07.2024 - 17:31:05

A woman grieving the death of her father found a glimmer of hope in an unlikely place when she thrifted a purse with a note inside that read, "I'm here. I love you."

As Abrielle Clausing explains in a now-viral TikTok post, she "was having a particularly hard grief week" when she decided to go thrifting for a purse with her sister.

"I told her I wanted to find a vintage Fossil brand purse," Clausing, 24, writes in the post. "My dad loved the thrift and finding a good deal."

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As luck would have it, Clausing did find a thrifted Fossil purse — and perhaps an even better find inside the bag.

Upon unzipping the black leather pouch, Clausing found a hand-written note that read: "When you read this you will be far from me in miles but not in my heart. I'm here. I love you."

Clausing, who lives in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, tells PEOPLE that her dad died in January 2021 from COVID-19.

"H -

He 'Never Took the Lazy Way Out',...

e was such a light in everyone’s lives and treated everyone like a friend," she says.

As he grew up in "a very poor family," Clausing says that "thrifting and finding good deals made him happy."

"My sister and I loved thrifting with him and always showed him our cool finds," she says.

When the duo goes out to the thrift store together, they even have a tradition: "We always are like, 'Hey Dad, give us a good deal today!' "

So when she found the exact brand of bag she was looking for at the thrift store that day, it felt like a sign.

"I knew it was from him," she says. "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."

Today, the bag is used for toiletries and the note is framed as part of a collage in Clausing's home.

"When I saw the note, it just confirmed that he was with us," she says. "He’s always with us."