7-year-old's honest sympathy note to teacher whose mum passed away is both hilarious and wholesome

When a person is grieving the loss of a loved one, people around them can provide them sympathy or comfort through words of encouragement and condolences. When 7-year-old Lindsay Keeling (@authorlindsayskeeling) learned about the passing of her teacher’s mum, she thought it would be great to send over a sympathy note to her teacher. So, she wrote the letter from the bottom of her heart. However, as a grown woman in her 30s, Keeling realized how hysterically wrong her note looked and decided to share it with others on the internet for a good laugh. “I laughed so hard ... and figured the internet might find it funny as well,” Keeling told TODAY.

Sharing more background, Keeling revealed that it was her computer teacher whose mum had passed away. She recalled the day the event took place. “We had a substitute teacher that day and we were told by the principal that our regular teacher’s mother had passed away,” said Keeling. “He did not assign us to color any pictures or make anything for our teacher, but I decided to do so anyway,” she explained. She added that her pet bird had also passed away at the time so she had an idea about death and loss. Furthermore, her mother helped her by getting her a book to explain the concept of the loss of loved ones to kids.

Only 7 at the time, Keeling decided to pen a note to her teacher. “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.” The letter, in messy handwriting but with the best of emotions, was filled with a genuine wish and a couple of spelling errors. It read, “By Lindsay, to computer teacher. Sory teacher. I am so sory computer teacher that your mom had to die. Sory. But everybody hasts to die someday. And today it was your mom’s turn to die. Love love is in your hart (sic).” Keeling misspelled 'sorry,' 'has' and 'heart' in her note.

Many will agree that the message was straight from the heart but hilariously had the wrong choice of words. Keeling also drew a crying face on the card to supposedly express the sorrow she felt. Additionally, she drew a computer and hearts to make the letter more precise. Recalling the event after years, Keeling mentioned that she was in town for her grandfather’s funeral. As a way to cheer her up, her mom got out the card, which she ensured never reached her teacher.

“She didn’t want to lie to me but she also didn’t want to upset me, so she just said, ‘Oh, that’s very nice and I’m sure she’ll like it, but let’s keep it here for now.’ That must’ve been a good enough answer for me because I never asked about it again,” she recalled. Several people commented hysterically on the note naive Keeling wrote years ago. @ashleyvhd wrote, “This sounds like a threat, prime suspect over here.” @luckyereen sarcastically added, “Now that’s more like it.” @kappie64 remarked, “I’m laughing so hard, my face is soaked in tears.”

You can follow Lindsay Keeling (@authorlindsayskeeling) on TikTok for more content on humor and lifestyle.