Teen leaving for college was stunned when he saw what his mom had done with his stuffed toys from childhood
A child leaving for college can be a big moment for the parents as well. So when it was time for her son to leave for college, a mom revealed an epic surprise that she had been planning for years. The woman had collected each of her son's childhood toys and kept them safe. When it was finally time for her son to leave, she led him to a room and he was stunned to see what his mom had prepared, per a video shared by the teen, Ben Szram, who goes by @benio0829 on TikTok. The clip received over 70.1 million views.
"I am leaving for college today and my mom told me she had a surprise," the text overlay of the video read. Ben walked up to a room to see all of his childhood toys lined up around the room. The mix included teddy bears, Minions and Mickey Mouse plushies and even a rocking horse. "All my childhood toys came to say bye," the son expressed and was quite shocked to see his mom's work. "We love you," a sign at the entrance read and Ben was quite emotional as he started looking around. The sign in front of the rocking horse read, "Good luck in college." The toys were accompanied by photos of special memories Ben had with them.
The room also had more of his childhood pictures all around the place. The caption read, "One of the hardest goodbyes." The mom, Kathy, told NBC Chicago, "I know he's not that far, but it's far enough for me and I know his life will change after he walks out the door of our house. I wanted to create a good memory for him." Kathy's 18-year-old son was leaving for college at Loyola University in Chicago. Kathy spent quite some time collecting all the toys and the photos for the surprise. She had set the toys out in the order Ben had received them. "There's a story behind every single teddy bear we have," the mom remarked.
One toy was a special gift, another was lost and then found unexpectedly. "My friends were teasing me. They said, 'Why did you keep all of these teddy bears?' How could I give away something that is so close to my heart? You can't. Those are so precious," the woman explained. She shared that her son was a big fan of the Disney movie "Toy Story" and she was inspired by the story to create something similar for her son. People were quite emotional about the send-off in the comments section of the video.
@jackiekhalilieh wrote, "Why would she do this to herself? Imagine her cleaning that all up, alone, at home?" @_jessyann_ commented, "It’s not just her setting this up for you. It’s the years of saving these toys because she couldn’t stand to get rid of them. Keeping them all safe. Then loving you enough to set this up. So sweet. Mama is so proud of you, but I just know her heart hurts watching you leave, too." @victorianunezrupp shared, "My sons are 2 and 3, why am I sobbing like they are leaving for college tomorrow?" In another video, Ben shared the setup of his new college dorm, sharing a peek into his new life.
You can follow Ben Szram (@benio0829) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.