A woman was left in tears by the contents of a notebook belonging to her mom, who passed away when she was a baby.
A heartbreaking number of children in the U.S. grow up without both parents present. Census Bureau data estimates that while 70 percent of children under the age of 18 live with two parents, 23 percent live with their mother only while 3 percent live with just a father.
Nearly 4 percent of children live with neither parent. Blakelyn’s mother died when she was just six months old. “She passed away in a car accident,” she told Newsweek. Though her father was a presence in her life growing up, he also died in another car accident a few years later.
Blakelyn requested that her full name and location be omitted from this story.
So when her aunt got in touch to say she had found a notebook belonging to her mom, she was desperate to read the contents. “She found the notebook in my grandparents’ house, my mom’s old bedroom,” she said.
The last of her mother’s three children, Blakelyn’s memories of her mom are fleeting at best. She said there was always a sense that something was missing, even at that early age though.
“People always think it isn’t ‘that bad’ because we don’t have many memories,” Blakelyn wrote alongside a TikTok video posted under the handle blakelynnnnnnn.
“But with it happening so young, it was more of a physical thing for us. We knew that we didn’t have the touch of our mother anymore, and not being able to understand why, is an unimaginable pain.”
That TikTok video captured Blakelyn’s reaction to the notebook from 2002 and its contents, which helped fill a small part of the void left by her mom’s death.
It revealed how they had discovered they were having a girl and the process by which her mom had settled upon her name. How her mom had considered names like Baylee, Braleigh and Bailey Alana before settling on Blakelyn.
It also revealed something she had never known until then. Something that left her in tears. “They were engaged when she died,” Blakelyn said.
“He never really talked about her much when I was growing up and after he died, nobody else knew that they were engaged. So it was very surprising to see that after 21 years.”
It would have been understandable for Blakelyn to feel a sense of loss while reading all her late mom’s hopes and plans for the future that were scribbled down in that notebook.
But while she was teary eyed reading back through it, the overriding feeling was not one of sadness. “It felt great, honestly, after not knowing her all my life, it felt like I finally got to know her a little better,” she said. “I was shocked and then felt at peace.”
It’s even provided her with a little inspiration when it comes to future baby names of her own. “I never knew my mom was considering so many different options,” she said. “I would’ve loved them all. I actually added them to my baby name list.”
Having shared the discovery online, Blakelyn was shocked all over again when the video went viral. “I hope that it helps people to remember to be thankful for what they have in life,” she said. “Even if it’s just some simple notes. Just never take anything for granted!”
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