Woman Thanks Ex-Boyfriend's Kid For Making Her Feel Loved
Jen and her brother, Todd, were just 10 and 12 years old when their father began dating Shirley Norton. It was 1986. Their love affair was short-lived, lasting only a year.
And while it may have been brief, it left an impact that stayed with Shirley until she died.
Eighteen years later, Jen received a phone call out of the blue. It was from a bank manager, informing her that Shirley had bequeathed $50,000 each to her and her brother. But in addition to the inheritance, Shirley also left behind a note.
A Random Phone Call
@intoxicatedinsights69 Absolutely gut wrenching story! Step parents truly are angels on earth. Thank you guys for all that you do. Thank you to the endlessly fascinating Jen, for sharing this story with us. Full episode is out. Link in bio
Jen recently shared her story on her podcast, Intoxicated Insights. She also posted a clip of the episode on TikTok where it has gone viral, garnering more than 2 million views, 237,000 likes, and nearly 5,000 comments.
"I get a random phone call, this is like 2004, I have two small children," she explained to her co-host Sage.
"I get this random call from this woman from Utah who's a bank manager telling me that one of my dad's ex-girlfriends has passed away and left me and my brother $50,000 each."
Jen via TikTok
Initially, she thought she was being punked. It took the bank manager more than half an hour to finally convince Jen to provide her address.
She explained to Sage that the woman the bank manager called her about was "legit" one of her father's ex-girlfriends and they had only dated for one year before he broke up with her. But throughout that year, Shirley took care of Jen, buying her clothes, decorating her room, and being "absolutely sweet" to her.
Jen remembers the day Shirley left. She begged Shirley to take her with her.
"I might have seen her like maybe one or two more times but my dad got a new girlfriend and that was that."
Until 18 years later...
When Jen received the mail from the bank manager she discovered that in addition to the cash, Shirley had also left behind a two-page letter.
Jen has held onto that letter for 20 years.
The Letter From Her Father's Ex-Girlfriend
Jen's father's ex-girlfriend bequeathed $50,000 each to her and her brother. But in addition to the inheritance, she also left behind a note.
Youtube/intoxicatedinsights
Holding back tears, Jen read Shirley's letter aloud:
"Dear Todd and Jenny, I bet you both are asking yourself, who is she?" the letter began.
"I met you and your father in 1986 when you were about 10 and 12 years old. You each made a remarkable impact on me. You were both great kids. You were friendly and made me feel welcome in your lives."
To further jog the siblings' memories, Shirley wrote that at the time Jen wanted to be an actress and own a pink Ferrari. She talked about going to SeaWorld and spending Thanksgiving at Lake Tahoe. She reminisced about Knotts Berry Farm and eating dinner together on the Queen Mary.
"Todd, when we went to Circus Circus, you won a little stuffed lion for me," she added. "I still have it."
And when Jenny went to camp? She made Shirley a wall hanging out of a pie plate. "I still have it too," Shirley wrote.
"I never had any children of my own," she added. "But for that one year you made me feel like I was part of your family."
Cue the tears.
Shirley also shared in the letter that she'd had a kidney transplant in 1992. "This gift of life gave me many extra years so I could enjoy this amazing world."
She ended the letter, writing: "I had a good life. I would like to make your life a little easier and more secure. I pray you both have wonderful lives. P.S. Jenny, please don't buy a pink Ferrari," she joked before adding, "But if you really want one, buy it."
"We don't always know the impact we make on someone's life"
@intoxicatedinsights69 Replying to @AileneTH jen says thank you!
The money came at a time when Jen needed it most. In a follow-up TikTok she explains her son had just been diagnosed with autism.
"At the time my youngest son had just got diagnosed with autism and so the money was great because I paid for a lot of therapies for him."
She also shared that the family moved "and it did make my life a lot better." (Although she never did get that pink Ferrari).
But it's the letter that is truly priceless.
"The letter was the best. I've held onto it for all these years. I read it, it's sad, and it always touches my heart."
Jen via TikTok
It's also touched the hearts of more than 2 million TikTok viewers.
"Perfect example that we don’t always know the impact we make on someone’s life. She never forgot you," one commenter wrote.
"Omg I’m sobbing 😭.. that was so so sweet," wrote another. "All the memories she still had of the kids ❤️❤️"
A third said, "As an adult child of divorce who’s Dad had many girlfriends that I loved but never got to say goodbye to, this helped to heal me. Maybe they loved me as much as I loved them."
Sometimes people aren't meant to stay in our lives. They are there for a short time and then they're gone. But just because they are no longer with us, it doesn't mean they are forgotten.
Shirley never forgot the time she spent with Jenny and Todd, even two decades later. Her generous bequest and heartfelt letter were a testament to the deep impact their brief connection had on her life.
It's also a sweet reminder that blood isn't what binds a family together. It's love, no matter how briefly we get to share it.
*Featured image contains photo by cottonbro studio
Breaking Through the Pain: A Lotus Must Grow in the Mud
Pain has the capacity to move us into unknown emotional depths. It is one of the most powerful and transformational forces that we all must experience in our lifetimes. We cannot avoid or shun pain -- it is something that poignantly binds us all and is divinely sown into our existence. We cannot hate what hurts us, because that only damages us more. We can choose to mend and exalt ourselves only by using all our inherent mastery to heroically dig our exit through pain.
A Lotus Must Grow in the Mud
In a world where being positive reigns supreme, it has become distinctly challenging to express our pain. For the most part, we fear to even face it or the sadness it carries and that sinks itself so silently yet turbulently into our soul. We hide our inner grief beneath a reluctant smile, yet our eyes are the mirror of our hearts and speak the truth of what lays within.
We deflect and disguise our pain when all it truly wants is to be seen, heard, understood and accepted. We hurt ourselves and in turn unintentionally cast the same fate onto others that we care for. It becomes a cycle of sorrow that we can only begin to break once we challenge our own beliefs and find the freedom of expression to give a voice to our muted cries and echoes of pain.
A lotus must grow in the mud
Beyond the pain lies an existential fact -- we are all unconditionally vulnerable. We fear pain because it highlights to us just how fragile and exposed we truly are. Pain and sadness permeate the surface level and take us on a journey into deep waters; they do not distinguish between the brave and fearful, the rich and poor, or the loved and lonely.
Our task through the darkest of times is to find a way to swim through the murky waters of hurt, sorrow, mental and emotional pain and come out the other side, stronger and more beautiful through the internal noise of the transition. In Buddhism, the lotus flower is a spiritual symbol of growth and enlightenment, its colorful open petals rising strong on long stalks through the muddy waters that inspired her seeds to bloom. Just like the lotus flower, we can elevate and rise, bond and beautify through shadows and darkness.
The purpose of pain
Pain has a purpose. It is unfiltered, raw, and beats you down to the very core of what keeps you ticking. It smashes you open -- but you are not broken. We can never be weakened by what shakes us violently from the inside out, only made stronger. When we perceive pain or falling into its depths as a weakness, then we lose all power to gain the evolution and wisdom it can offer us. When we run or try to escape pain, it is like we are running from ourselves.
All change requires an instigator and something to spark a shift within you. Dark times drive a dissolution of everything, allowing for something greater to be born. When we numb what we feel we only drive those emotions further into the shadows, which only intensifies and magnifies their propensity. When we embrace what has hurt us, we can shine a light on our inner wounds, uncover them from their haze, and take our power back.
We can only begin to heal once we accept the destruction and nakedly face our despair. We allow it to unfold within us so we can repair our inner turmoil with an "emotional glue" that is laced with strength, courage and pure compassion. You are not worth less because of your pain -- you are worth more in spite of it.
Finding the beauty through the pain
There is tenderness and wisdom in a heart burst wide open on the journey through pain. To endure and override the eclipse of painful circumstance gives birth to an enhanced level of sensitivity and understanding of who you are and all that you stand for. It inspires a regeneration and rebirth within you.
We are never the same after pain, but we are warriors of light and hope who rise from its remnants. We find the beauty and grace of sorrow when we can breathe its release -- and choose to let it go. The roots of that sadness and grief remain -- it is a sticking point where the hurt still hurts just enough to remind you that it was there; a less visible ghost of what existed. Every experience flows within us because we are the sum of all our parts, even the deepest pockets of pain.
Moving lovingly through our anguish is how we mend
Pain can consign us into an isolated cocoon that becomes like a swathe of a grieving second skin. Rather than allowing it to consume us, we can intuitively and consciously move with it and through it; embrace its presence and gently emerge out of its hold.
You are not your pain. You are the one with the intrinsic chemistry of love that is needed for you to break through your pain to a new dawn. You are like the proud and colorful lotus, elevating through the darkest depths to stand taller and stronger, facing the sun.