His aunt adopted him when he lost his mom at 5 — 25 years later, he thanked her with a heart-melting song

A person might show their gratitude for the people in their life in different ways. Most of these can be really heartwarming to see. A man wrote a song for his aunt who had looked after him since he lost his mom at the age of five. The woman was in tears when the man finally played the song for her in a car. Ryan Nealon, who goes by @ryanealon on Instagram, took to the platform to share the song and his aunt's reaction to the same.

"25 years ago you adopted me. I wrote this song for you," the boy told his aunt, who is his mom now. The song revealed that the aunt was on vacation when she got the "worst call" of her life. "Heard your sister didn't make it, became my mother overnight," the song went. "Drove into the city, put my suitcase in the car. I was just a kid, so you stayed calm." The man recalled that he used to ask his aunt questions the whole ride on their way to school. He would ask things like, "What are we having for dinner?" or "What was my mother like?" The aunt would answer, "Said we could order pizza and she was one of a kind." The aunt would think of her sister all the time.

"You never, you never let me see you cry," the song continued. "You kept it all inside." The caption read, "Wrote this for my mom. 'Never see you cry' out now." The man talked about the song with PEOPLE and pointed out, "It really centers around growing up and never seeing her falter always taking everything by the horns. She did such a good job of keeping it together, especially when no one expected her to." He added, "It was very hard to compartmentalize all that, but she did it because she knew I needed that. She didn’t care about her own needs at the time, which, of course, isn’t ideal." The aunt cried a little as she heard the song. That was also one purpose of the song as Nealon wanted to give her some form of emotional release through it.

People in the comments shared their thoughts on the song and the dynamic between the mom and son. @ins.kh5 wrote, "I’ve seen your videos a few times now and this song always brings tears to my eyes. In my religion, the mother’s sister is similar to a mother in terms of the way she’s supposed to be honored & shown respect. I can see the beauty of this when I see relationships like yours and your aunt’s. I’m so sorry for your loss and I wish you and your aunt all the best."

@imsure20 commented, "The look on her face, fondly replaying those memories as you sing them! When pain becomes your biggest blessing! She loves you dearly." @16marian03 remarked, "Just so beautiful. A wonderful tribute to a wonderful woman. And a tribute to the power of love and being a sister. The sister everyone wants. Wishing you both the best of everything." @montywd60 shared, "Wow, beautiful song and voice young man. I’m sorry for yours and your mum's loss."

You can follow Ryan Nealon (@ryanealon) on Instagram for more lifestyle content.