Grieving Daughter Finds Note in Thrifted Purse After Father's Death (Exclusive)
The woman found a note reading, "I'm here. I love you." inside the thrifted purse
Courtesy of Abrielle Clausing
Abrielle Clausing's thrifted purse; Abrielle Clausing's note that she found in the thrifted purseA 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."
Courtesy of Abrielle Clausing
Abrielle Clausing's note that she found in the thrifted purseClausing, who lives in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, tells PEOPLE that her dad died in January 2021 from COVID-19.
"He 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.
Related: Woman’s $3.99 Thrift Store Vase Turned Out to Be a Mayan Artifact – So She Returned It
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.
Courtesy of Abrielle Clausing
the thrifted purse"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."
Courtesy of Abrielle Clausing
the collage with the thrifted noteToday, 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."
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