Losing a loved one is never easy. No matter how much time passes, there always seems to be something that will remind you of them. Although these moments can be sad, they can also bring great comfort. 

Abrielle Clausing experienced such a moment in a miraculous way, sharing her story on social media. Clausing said that 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, said. “My dad loved the thrift and finding a good deal.” As luck would have it, Clausing did mange to find a thrifted Fossil purse — and perhaps an even better find inside the bag.

Abrielle Clausing’s dad. Photo courtesy of Abrielle Clausing

When she unzipped the black leather purse, inside Clausing found a handwritten 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.” They daughters couldn’t believe it. But it made sense.

Her dad grew up in “a very poor family,” Clausing said. So “thrifting and finding good deals made him happy.” And it was an activity they enjoyed as a family. “My sister and I loved thrifting with him and always showed him our cool finds,” she said.

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.

The letter that was found in the thrifted Fossil bag. Photo courtesy of Abrielle Clausing

“I knew it was from him,” she said. “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.”

Clausing, who lives in Siloam Springs, Ark., said her father died in January 2021 from COVID-19. “He was such a light in everyone’s lives and treated everyone like a friend,” she said. The bag is less important, the the reminder of the love their dad had for his daughters.

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.”

Source: People