Latest news with #TaraStilwell
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
She Asked Her Late Son for a Sign He Could Still Hear Her. Then He Responded (Exclusive)
After a video explaining how a mom asked her late son for a sign went viral, Tara Stilwell tells PEOPLE about the outpouring of support that followedNEED TO KNOW After the death of her six-year-old son, Tara Stilwell read Signs: The Secret Language of the Universe by Laura Lynne Jackson and felt compelled to ask Wilder for a sign that he could still hear her In a video posted to TikTok, Stilwell explained how she asked her son to show her a red Lego That same day, he responded with a signWhen Tara Stilwell uploaded a quick story to TikTok while her baby napped on her chest, she didn't expect that it would resonate with millions of people online. Stilwell shared the video, which now has over seven million views on the app, "on a whim," taking to the platform to tell the story of how she asked her late six-year-old son, Wilder, for a sign that he could still hear her after his death."I had just read the book called Signs, it's a pretty common book people read directly after losing someone they love," she explains in the video. "It says to be really specific about what you ask for." So Tara picked something that reminded her directly of her son: a Lego. More specifically? A red Lego. Stilwell then recounts asking her son to let her see a Lego "in a place where it didn't belong." Later that day, while sitting in the waiting room at her daughter's ballet class, Stilwell recalls seeing a family she had never seen before, and their young son playing. She struck up a casual conversation with the mom, who she learned was not originally supposed to be at the class that day and whose children were attending a makeup class. The boy, she recalls, was wearing a shirt identical to one her son used to without a word, the boy walked over and placed a single red Lego in her hand. Stilwell recalls immediately tearing up, but wanting to hide it from the mother and the boy so as not to freak them out. The moment, which she shared in detail on TikTok, has sparked thousands of emotional comments, with many viewers feeling compelled to share their own stories of "signs" from loved ones. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest with PEOPLE, Tara discussed her reaction to the response from people online: "People have messaged me saying they felt inspired and they got a sign and it's just snowballed into this really beautiful thing."Stilwell, who lost her son nearly four years ago, says the video stemmed from a moment of reflection. "I was just thinking about how far we've come and how many moments I've had where I've felt connected to him and that just came out," she a follow up video, Tara spoke about how it has felt to have her son's name being talked about by people on the Internet. "I don't get to say Wilder's name in the same way that I used to," she says. "I obviously still say it everyday, but I'm no longer referenced as Wilder's mom. For just a second, I felt like Wilder's mom again."Adding on, she tells PEOPLE, "It feels so incredible to hear stranger's saying my son's name. But he like brought all these people together and it just is a testament of how special he was and continues to be." Stilwell says she still connects with Wilder through dreams, memories and unexpected moments — like that red Lego. The moment with the little boy in the ballet studio has replayed in her head "many times.""Our logical brain wants to kind of explain it away. And my logical brain can't explain it away," she says. "It does not make sense. The fact that I had been breaking down and talking to him and asking for a very specific sign that I felt resonated with him, and then mere hours later, a stranger is not only wearing the same shirt that my son owns. He wasn't even playing with Legos — he was playing with cars."Stilwell continues to focus on the impact Wilder continues to have on her family's lives. After moving back to her hometown to be near family, Tara rekindled a relationship with someone from her high school — someone, she believes, that Wilder sent into her life. The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!"I truly believe that Wilder was like, okay, I'm gonna send somebody your way to like hold your hand through it," she tells she believes, even gave his blessing to her partner in a dream that he had. "It was when we first started seeing each other and he said that the dream took place at like the house we live at now. And he had like, walked outside and Wilder was standing there and said, 'Who are you?' And he introduced himself," she recalls. "And then Wilder said, 'Are you good?' And my partner said, 'I think, I think I'm good.' And he said, "Okay, you can stay.'"In the aftermath of the video, Stilwell hopes others can find their own connections too. "In order to connect with your loved one, you have to sit in the pain," she says. "If people can allow themselves to be vulnerable and sit with the discomfort, they can see the signs, they can feel connected to their loved one. Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
This Mom Asked Her Deceased 6-Year-Old Son For A Sign, And What Happened Was So Profound, It Has Completely Stunned The Entire Internet
A woman named Tara Stilwell has recently touched the hearts of millions of people with this viral story about her son, Wilder Brooks Stilwell. Wilder was 6 years old when he was unfortunately killed. "Do you guys want to hear a story about how I asked my 6-year-old deceased son for a sign that he could still hear me and how he responded? It's a pretty good story, if you want to hear it," Tara started in her TikTok as she rocked her baby. "I had just read that book called Signs. It's a pretty common book that people read directly after losing someone they love. In that book, it talks about being very specific in the sign that you ask for. And so I was thinking about what could be a symbol for my son that I felt like resonated with him, and he was only six when he died, so that means it would have to be something that kind of caters to a 6-year-old, and what do most 6-year-old boys love? Legos." Tara Stillwell, "So I asked him to let me see a Lego in a place where it didn't belong. So not in my house, not in a friend's house that had kids — a Lego in a place where it didn't belong, specifically a red Lego. I went about my day, and I kind of forgot about it," she continued. Tara Stillwell, Ivanastar / Getty Images "Later that day, I was at my daughter's ballet class. It was one o'clock, and I was in the viewing/waiting room. I was observing this family I had never seen before, and I was kind of watching the little boy because he was wearing a shirt that my son had owned, and I was already thinking about Wilder, and, you know, kind of watching my daughter's class and just keeping to myself. The mom and I struck up conversation, and I found out that they weren't normally there that day. They were doing a makeup class, and it was just by some off chance that we were in the same place at the same time." "This little boy was kind of just quietly playing cars on the floor, and he got up and he walked over to me. He looked me directly in my eyes, and he put one singular red Lego in my hands." "And even when I think about it, I get chills, because what are the chances of that? There's no such thing as a coincidence that big, right? And obviously, I immediately started to cry, because how could you not in a moment like that? But I choked it up as fast as I could, and I tried not to let him or his mom see, because how do you even begin to explain that to a stranger? But it was after that moment that I never doubted again that he could hear me, even if it's not in the way that I would prefer," Tara concluded. BuzzFeed spoke to Tara, who explained that she was gifted the book in the early days of his passing and was desperate for answers, looking to find a way to connect with Wilder. "Like most parents who've lost a child, you would give anything to find a way to feel close to them. In the book, it explains that our loved ones can hear us — that they can find ways to connect with us if we ask for specific signs. I sat with this idea, wondering if maybe, somehow, somewhere, my son's spirit was still connected to me." Tara decided to ask Wilder for a red Lego as a sign because he was such a high-energy boy, Legos were one of the only quiet and still activities that kept him engaged. "I spent a fortune on them, truthfully, but I loved watching how mindful he would be with building project to completion. I chose red because that was his favorite color." "When the little boy lifted his hand in the way that signaled to me that he wanted to hand me something, and looked me directly in the eyes, I wasn't sure what it was going to be. But once the Lego fell into the palm of my hands and his eye contact lingered, it felt like he was silently telling me the answer to the question I had been begging Wilder for: He could hear me. My entire body got warm, and my eyes welled with tears that I did my best to choke down." "People are disappointed that I didn't explain to the boy or his mother what that Lego meant to me, but I needed the feeling to be all mine in that moment. I needed to sit with knowing my son could hear me," she added. "I think Wilder is touching more lives than I ever could have imagined. I'm so beyond grateful and proud," Tara added. And since the story has impacted so many people, Tara said it is also giving people who are grieving a little piece of hope that they might be able to connect with their loved ones... In fact, thousands of people who have already had signs are sharing their own experiences with their deceased loved ones in the comments on Tara's TikTok video: Tara now asks Wilder for signs all the time, and he always follows through. She said, "I'm probably annoying him at this point. I have so many other stories that would make a believer even out of the biggest skeptic. Some of my most meaningful connections with Wilder are his visits in my dreams. They aren't dreams, it's us, together again somewhere in between. In the four years since he's passed, I'd say he's visited me about 10 times, and I can still remember every single detail of every one of those dreams." "Child loss goes against what feels to be the laws of nature. It's a loss that feels to be the hardest to swallow. I know Wilder is watching over me and his siblings. Protecting us from the other side," Tara ended. If you are grieving the loss of a child, you can find resources here.
