Mom was grieving on first Mother's Day without late son—until FB post about a lost baby book gave her exactly what she needed
Coping with a child's death can be very hard for any parent, especially on a special occasion like Mother's Day. A mom, Stephanie Clyburn, had to do that as she was grieving her 22-year-old son, Brystin Coldiron, after he died in a car crash in November 2024. But then she got something to hold onto when she saw a Facebook post with her late son's baby book. It had been lost for around two decades at that time. Clyburn could not believe what happened next, per WKRC.
Clyburn had no hopes of getting the baby book back after losing it around two decades ago. However, a couple, the Massies, who moved into the house recently, had discovered the album. They decided to post about it online to find the owner. "I couldn't believe that she had it, but once I saw it, I was like, 'This is it. This is it.' And like, I was excited, but peace came over me, like, I have from his beginning to his end," Clyburn expressed. The mom was glad she could have her son's memories. Clyburn initially had given the baby book to her mom for safekeeping, but it was lost after a few moves until the Massies moved into her old house at Greenfield, Highland County.
"When the appraisal happened, we got the pictures and all that. And one of the pictures that showed there was a bunch of stuff up in the attic. And I told my husband, I was like, 'I'm going to go up there at some point,'" Cassidy Massie explained. She went to the attic and posted about it on Facebook, asking if someone knew a "Stephanie West." Soon enough, she had a lead about the book's owner. "If somebody found something like that of ours, I would want them to reach out if they found it," Cassidy pointed out. Clyburn's friends reached out to her after looking at the post. She was confused at first, until her niece sent her a link and told her to have a look at it.
The mom did not just find a baby book, but a suitcase full of things with more of her son's memories. "My aunt bought that for him. This shirt. I even kept it and it has throw-up on it. I washed it, yeah, but I kept it and I was like, your first throw-up," Clyburn explained. Surprisingly, the mom got the message about her son's baby book on Sunday, her first Mother's Day without her son.
"I'm a firm believer in God and I think that was his way of being like, 'Here, Mom. Happy Mother's Day.' I don't know. I just feel it," Clyburn remarked. She is grateful that the strangers made an effort to get those memories back to her. "Being a stranger, they could have tossed it out. I'm very appreciative of her. I think if anybody ever comes across something like this, you always try to find its owner. You don't know what they're going through." Clyburn felt that two more of her lost books might be up there in the attic, and Cassidy is ready to help her.