A woman grew up without her mom. 21 years later, she found her secret notebook.

Some of us are lucky enough to take our parents for granted. We have a brain full of memories of them, and many decades to form new ones. We learn who they are as people, who they were before we were born, where they came from, what their hopes and dreams were, how they met their partner, our other parent. Some people don’t have that luxury. According to Judi’s House, about 1 in 11 U.S. children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18. A woman named Blakelyn suffered unimaginable tragedy as a child when both of her parents died in separate car accidents within a few years of each other. She grew up hungry for any tangible memories of what they were like. Blakelyn’s mother died when she was just 6 months old, according to Newsweek. She grew up with no mother, very little understanding of what happened, and almost no memories of her. Worse, her father was too grief-stricken to talk much about Blakelyn’s mom, understandably so. That left her very little to go on, and when he sadly passed away too, she lost the only connection she had to her mother. A journal nobody knew existed Imagine her shock when, 21 years later, Blakelyn’s aunt discovered an old journal belonging to her mom while sorting through rooms at Blakelyn’s grandparents’ house. Blakelyn was desperate to get her hands on it and captured her reaction to its contents in a powerful post on social media. What was inside her mom’s journal For the first time in her life, Blakelyn got a look inside her mom’s heart and mind. And she uncovered some amazing revelations along the way. Among the highlights of the journal are pages and pages of notes Blakelyn’s mom made as she was brainstorming names for her baby girl. There are lists of first names, first-and-middle-name pairings, and experiments with different combinations. In the post, Blakelyn expresses awe that her name was almost Baylee Alyssa, and also Bailey Alana. Mom had really honed in on those creative B names! In a calendar portion of the journal, Mom noted key dates like the day she moved in with Blakelyn’s dad, and also the day he proposed. Blakelyn had never known that the two were engaged when her mom died. Mom also crossed off dates in succession, counting down the days until her daughter was born. It was all overwhelming in the best way. The TikToker told Newsweek that not having any memories of her mom didn’t make the loss any less painful. In a way, it left her searching for this intangible missing piece her entire life. Now, with the journal, she’s got that piece back. Why viewers couldn’t stop crying The post went viral, racking up hundreds of thousands of likes and bringing viewers to tears, as shared in the comments: “She LOVED you. She wanted the most perfect name for you. She LOVED you. SHE LOVED YOU” “you were so loved BEFORE you were here. imagine how much more they love you after they are gone … i’m sorry luv. you were seriously her most prized possession!!” “She was just a girl, and she loved you and thought of you so much before you were even born” “Wait, I love that she used the calendar to write the good things that happened versus using it to plan out future events. How sweet!” “This is so sweet. Both of my parents passed away and a few months ago I found their love letters they had written to each other while they were long distance before I was even born. I tell myself all the time they were just teenagers in love.” A few commenters even had a great idea. Now that Blakelyn has her own name in her mom’s handwriting, she’s got all the makings of an epic and emotional tattoo, a way to carry a piece of her mom with her everywhere. Blakelyn responded to the idea in the comments: “I definitely will be doing this.” This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.