Daughter was wracked with guilt for missing mom's last phone call — until she accidentally found a goodbye note addressed to her

A woman recently shared a deeply personal story about losing her mother and the guilt that followed after missing one final phone call. In a post on Instagram by Emily Lyons (@emilylyoness), she explained how her mom tried to reach her the morning she died, and how a handwritten letter she discovered later changed the way she carried that regret. "The day my mom died, she tried to call me at 4 AM. My phone was off, and I missed her call," Lyons wrote. By the time she arrived at the hospital later that morning, her mother was already unconscious. "I never got to say goodbye to my best friend," she said.

Lyons said she and her mom talked multiple times a day, every single day, so the missed call became the part that hurt the most. In the days that followed, she felt an overwhelming need to hear her mother's voice again, aware there had been one final attempt to reach her. "In my devastation, I needed to hear her voice more than anything," she shared. Amid that grief, Lyons became convinced her mom had left something behind for her. "I had this gut feeling she left something for me, a letter," she said. She searched everywhere — her purse, her nightstand, even her safety deposit box — but found nothing. Then her brother told her it all happened too quickly and that there probably was no time to prepare anything. Still, she said she could not accept that.

"That night, I prayed I'd find it," she wrote. The next morning, while gathering paperwork, she opened her mom's filing cabinet and saw it immediately. "A note. In her handwriting. Waiting for me." The letter began: "Emily, if you are reading this, you have been dealing with a lot of pain. I am sorry that I left you and sorry this must be so overwhelming for you. Know how much I love you and all the joy we have shared." It continued: "Please don't cry too much for me, sweet girl. Throw my ashes into the wind and know I will find your sister. Love forever, Mom." "In the middle of the worst pain of my life, my mom was still comforting me," Lyons said in the caption. She later said she cannot fully explain why she decided to check the filing cabinet that morning, only that the letter was there when she needed it most.

Written messages can play a meaningful role in how people process grief. A 2023 study published in the journal "Death Studies" examined what psychologists call "continuing bonds," which refers to maintaining an emotional connection with someone who has died. The researchers found that tangible reminders, such as handwritten letter,s were often associated with lower levels of prolonged grief symptoms because they helped reinforce feelings of closeness rather than abrupt separation. Since finding the note, Lyons said it changed how she communicates with the people in her life. "A few words can save someone," she wrote. She now leaves more written messages for the people she loves, friends, family members, and even colleagues, because, as she explained, "you never know what day they'll need them."

You can follow Emily Lyons (@emilylyoness) on Instagram for more personal and professional content.

More on Scoop Upworthy

Her late husband often surprised her with flowers — so she was stunned when a stranger handed her a bouquet

Man writes a final heartbreaking letter to granddaughter and it has left the internet sobbing

All 26 of her grandkids gathered to say goodbye—then realized they’d each kept one item she once gave them