A man's unexpected thrift find has left the internet in tears after he stumbled on something extra special to his daughter.
Sylvan Brier, who lives in Maryland, shared the touching moment on TikTok in a video that quickly captured the hearts of thousands.
In her post, Brier recounted how her father, who lives in central Virginia, spotted an identical, though much less loved, version of her cherished stuffed toy at a local thrift store. Stunned by the find, he snapped a picture and sent it to his daughter.
"My dad recognized the toy and sent me a picture from the thrift store," Brier told Newsweek. "It meant so much to me because my parents know how special my cat is to me. I've had the flu all week, and my stuffed cat has been my companion through it all."
This stuffed cat, a Ty toy from 1997, has been Brier's most prized possession for 24 years, and in the video, she shared a picture of the thrift store cat compared with her well-loved buddy. The collectible Ty toy has seen a resurgence in interest, selling online for around $40 in good condition. But for Brier, her original cat's sentimental value is priceless.
Though her father didn't purchase the thrifted toy, Brier decided to share the sweet story on TikTok, calling it a "hopecore" moment. The post quickly went viral, amassing over 159,000 likes and sparking an outpouring of love and nostalgia in the comments.
"As a girly with a 20+ year old stuffed animal, this made me ugly cry," said commenter DanielleMostLikely. Viewer Spirit Daez simple said: "Crying."
Another viewer commented that she's been thinking about buying a second version of her child's toy. "My daughter has a favorite puppy, and I thought about buying another brand new and saving it for her if she has kids," said @hotmomcorexo.
Brier was thrilled by the positive response to her video: "I had so many people tell me they have similar stuffed animals or just say how cute and loved mine is. It really warmed my heart," she said.
Adults With Stuffed Animals
While stuffed toys are usually associated with children, in 2017, a survey of 2,000 Americans by Build-A-Bear and Atomik Research found that 40 percent of adults still sleep with a stuffed animal, and 56 percent of those polled said that they've still got their favorite stuffed animal from their childhood.
Adults living in the southern United States are most likely to have a stuffed animal (75 percent), followed by residents of the Midwest (72 percent) and Northeast (70 percent).
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