Little boy 'sees' late uncle outside the day after he passed away: 'Uncle Drew is watching over him'

A recent video posted by Jac Dazzo on his Instagram @jacdazzo captured something he never expected to witness, and it unknowingly sparked an emotional conversation around grief, family, and the mysterious things children sometimes say. Dazzo shared in the video that the day after his brother-in-law, Drew, passed away, he was spending time with his nephew when something he said stopped him cold. Russell, who had been playing with toy cars on the living room floor, suddenly got up, grabbed another vehicle, and casually told his uncle, "Uncle Drew is sitting outside." 

"We had NOT told him that Uncle Drew passed away. And we were NOT talking about him," Dazzo said in the video. The moment was so striking, Dazzo began recording again. Surprised and unsure of what he meant, the man followed up. "What did you say? Where's Uncle Drew?" he asked. Without hesitation, Russell walked to the glass door and pointed to the backyard deck. When Dazzo asked, "He's right there?" he said, "Yeah," adding, "He sit... he sit outside." "Okay, let's go see Uncle Drew. Show me, 'cause I know you can see him," he prompted. 

Russell walked toward the door as if expecting to see someone on the other side. Dazzo asked him again, "Where's Uncle Drew?" to which he answered clearly, "Out there." A bewildered Dazzo mentioned again, "the fact that none of us had told Russell that he passed away yet... gave me chills." He loved the idea that kids could see spirits, but was still stunned that his nephew said something like that "out of the blue." The video ends with a heartfelt note about Russell's bond with his late uncle. "Russell loved Drew so much. I have no doubt that it was him," the text read.

While many people believe that children are especially sensitive to spiritual presence or the unseen, studies show that adults often feel similar connections, too. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 53% of Americans say they’ve felt the presence of a deceased relative in some form, and 44% report having had such an experience in the past year, whether it was feeling a loved one’s presence, talking to them, or believing they were contacted in some way.

The video hit like a soft punch in the gut, and many shared their own stories of children expressing similar unexplained insights. @kaydibarrus85 shared, "Kids see and know things. As a kid, I knew things before my mom told me... always believe the littles." @bakkerdiana said, "My nearly 3-year-old son saw our 12-year-old neighbor boy in the front yard after he passed away two times... he still remembers, and my son is now nearly 32..."

@sinujones offered a message of comfort, "I'm so sorry for your loss. Condolences to you and your family. How special that he can see Uncle's spirit." @shellsatmb shared, "Definitely saw him. I saw my mom's brother a lot when I was a baby. He would sit in the corner of my room in a rocking chair. I told my mom all the time I saw him, she would just dismiss me (he passed three years before I was born). I got older and drew the layout of my nursery, and she believed me."

You can follow Jac Dazzo (@jacdazzo) on Instagram for more daily-life content.