Woman buys late grandfather's car and finds heartbreaking recording from nearly 20 years ago

Finding a picture or old recording of a family member who passed away can be heartbreaking and nostalgic. It brings back all the memories created with them and one feels a fresh wave of grief. Julie—who goes by @juliannaharveyx on TikTok—had a similar experience when she found a recording of herself and her grandfather in his car. She posted a video capturing her recorded conversation with her late grandfather, whom she called "Pop-pop."

In the video, Julie played the built-in recording device in the car, which had stored the nostalgic recording. In the recording, she is heard saying, "Helllooo!" Her grandad responded warmly, "Is that you, Julie? Do you want to talk to pop-pop while we are driving around in the car? You want to make a new message?" When Julie replied that she did, her grandfather said, "OK, let's hear your message then."

When she hesitated, he said to her, "Cat got your tongue, forgot how to speak, did you?" In response, she said, "I forgot... Ahhh..." What she said next was unclear, but what matters is that the recording is a precious memory of her grandfather and it will be a meaningful memento for her. The video's text overlay read, "My pop-pop passed away in December of 2022 and I just recently bought my grandparents' car and found this recording of us from almost 20 years ago." She also shared that the car is a Cadillac, which was bought in 2003 and only has 50k miles.

The video went viral with over 987k views on the platform. People in the comments shared how much they loved the recording. @cami_chanel commented, "Sweet to think he was recording to save your voice for him, but instead, you get his voice." @lanta.2 wrote, "I drive my grandpa's car too. One day, my Bluetooth cut off and I went to the CD I didn't know was there. It started playing the music I remember him singing to me. It made my whole day, new daily listen." @julieingeneral expressed, "As a Julie who lost her Poppop and missed him every day, this hit home. I'm glad you still have voice memos from him. He sounds like a wonderful grandpa."

@amber_shenae_nay said, "I have a voicemail from 2017 before my papa passed and occasionally, I'll listen to it... so bittersweet to hear their voice yet remember they are no longer here. I'm sure you were so happy to find this!" @user3621161841829 wrote, "I love this! I have a recording of my grandpa wishing me a happy birthday from 10 years ago. Every year on my birthday, I listen to it." @anilsat18 commented, "I drive my dad's car, who passed this year and for me, it helps me feel so much closer to him. I just know it's the same for you, especially now! Rest in heaven!"

In a follow-up video, Julie responded to a comment by sharing pictures of her and her grandfather. In the photos, the grandpa was seen putting his arms around her and hugging her. They both looked happy and it was evident how much her grandpa loved her. The video was captioned, "He was the best! I found out I was pregnant the night after he passed away."

You can follow Julie (@juliannaharveyx) on TikTok for more content on her family life.