Woman's Super Sad Thrift Store Find Has People Feeling All Sorts of Sentimental

Yahoo

14-03-2025

When the people we love pass on, one of the most difficult but important things we do is go through their belongings. It's during this process many tears are shed as we sort through the items of a life once lived, by the people we still love who are no longer with us.
While some of their things get donated, if we're lucky, we're able to keep some of their more sentimental items. After my Granny passed, I was able to get one of her jewelry boxes. Every time I open it to grab a pair of earrings, I think of her. It's a simple way to be reminded she's still with me, even if not physically. I find comfort in that.
Of course, we don't usually think about the previous owners of thrift store finds when we're sorting through the boxes and shelves looking for a coffee mug, but sometimes, it's impossible not to think about. This is what happened to TikToker Tameka Janes during a recent trip to the GoodWill. She stumbled across an entire collection of porcelain Precious Moments figurines that were still in excellent condition.
"One of the saddest things I've seen at the thrift store," Tameka wrote, imagining why such cherished items would now be living on thrift store shelves. TikTok definitely saw what Tameka was thinking too: Those belonged to someone's grandparent.
"you know someone's Granny loved every last one of them❤️" commented Teffany Delaine. "Precious Moments!! 💔💔💔 my great grandma loved those." said Panda. "Stop. 🥺 My great grandma got me one of these for every birthday until I turned 16 and she couldn't anymore because of dementia😭❤️" commented alexacatherine.
Of course, TikTok is still TikTok, so there were plenty of people who didn't really understand the sentiment behind Tameka's TikTok. "let's normalize decluttering..it's not always a sad reason. 😂" said orangecrush333. "A lot of parents started collections for their kids of things they liked, doesn't mean the recipient cherished those things. My dad collects everything on earth so nothing is special at this point." said Elizabeth Christine.
Of course, we'll never know the true story behind this specific collection. For all we know, they could have just been random decor gathering dust on someone's shelf they just wanted to be rid of so they took them to the thrift store.
However, with a bit of empathy and some imagination, it's not hard to picture those Precious Moments figurines on a shelf in a warm home, dearly loved by someone once.