Teacher Whose Mother Died Receives Funny Sincere Sympathy Card From Student, 7: ‘Mortifying’

It was an A for effort.

A nostalgic TikTokker released a sympathy card she made at the age of 7 for a grieving teacher who had lost her mother at the time.

While the sentiment was sweet from Lindsay Schraad Keeling, now 32, her rudimentary language skills didn’t exactly reflect that.

“I’m so sorry computer teacher that your mother had to die. We are sorry. But every body must die one day,” the handwritten note read.

“And today was your mothers death,” Keeling said bluntly in her card, calling the incident one of the “death stories of childhood.”

Her clip has garnered more than 3 million views since late July.

“I laughed so hard … and I realized the Internet might find it funny,” one Keeling, Virginia resident told “Today” about the 1999 incident.

She recalled that the school principal informed the children that the teacher’s mother had died and that they would have a replacement.

“He didn’t set us to color any pictures or do anything for our teacher, but I guess I decided to do it anyway,” added Keeling, a self-described “very emotional kid” who had just lost her pet bird. .

At the time, she was curious about the question we all have—the meaning of death—and her mother bought Keeling’s children’s book about loss.

“I think I put my newfound knowledge to good use and wrote a very factual ‘sympathy card,'” said Keeling, who, in an odd career twist, would go on to serve as a funeral director before becoming author.

“I’m sure I was very proud of it because I excitedly showed it to my mother – who was wise enough to gently take it from me so I couldn’t give it to my teacher,” she told undivided feeling. .

The card recently resurfaced when Keeling’s mother, Julie Schraad, found it to cheer her daughter up after learning her grandfather died in July.

Since his post, Keeling has been engulfed in backlash online.

“It has heart, humor and doodles?! we give it a 10/10,” greeting card purveyor Hallmark shared in the comments.

“I can’t stop laughing,” one person wrote.

“If I were your teacher, it would honestly make me feel better,” another user added.

Deep down, it seems the card ended up reaching the right people.

“The reaction I loved the most — apart from all the funny comments — was one person who said their mother had recently passed away and it was ‘the first time they’d laughed in weeks,'” Keeling told ” Today”.

“I was very grateful to be able to bring joy to people who were sad like me.