She feared opening 'secret folder' on late husband’s laptop but when she did, she started crying

A woman who lost her husband discovered something on his laptop that stopped her cold: a secret folder titled "favorites." What she found inside took her breath away. Fitness creator Annie, who goes by @anniefitness___ on Instagram shared that the the folder was filled with photos — all of her from various aspects of their life together. In her caption, she wrote, "I hadn’t ever seen some of these photos until after he died. My heart is happy and is breaking all at the same time. Miss him so much always."

The photos were simple, candid moments, her laughing at home, smiling in the car, posing with their dog, and more, that captured how he saw her every day. She said the discovery made her cry. Even after his death, her husband had managed to leave behind something personal and unexpected, a digital time capsule of affection. The hidden folder of photos documented how her late husband saw her, and psychologists say it can help people keep a sense of connection after loss. A 2022 study by Jiménez-Alonso and Brescó de Luna, published in Culture & Psychology, found that photographs can shape how people process grief.

The researchers identified five ways images help, by giving the bereaved a sense of agency in their healing, helping them build a story around their loss, and allowing them to maintain a continuing bond with the person who’s gone. They found that photography can help the grieving preserve continuing bonds with loved ones, make sense of their emotions, and even regain a feeling of control during mourning. The researchers observed that photos often become "technologies of the self," allowing people to revisit moments of love and reshape grief into meaning. The authors called this a form of "meaning making," adding that images help the living build a new story with the person they’ve lost.

The video touched viewers to the core, and many shared what they had found after losing someone they loved. @janicejday wrote, "My husband's boss left his office untouched after he unexpectedly passed away at 40 until I could go in and remove his personal items. When I sat at his desk and started going through everything I discovered that he had doodled my name all over his papers and books." @april_scissor_hands commented, "God, yes. I found photos he’d snapped of me when I wasn’t watching. Silly things like me checking out at the cash register and browsing antiques. It was wonderful to see and to know he loved me even when it wasn’t scripted. All I had to do was exist."

@janileene added, "I’m sending you a great big hug and a kiss. I know exactly how you feel — I have experienced finding poems my husband wrote about me, journaling about me and numerous other things after my husband passed away 13 years ago. Some things made me cry and some brought a big smile to my face. Just know that Zach adored you…he still does and he always will." @dingo_gambino wrote, "Just know that wherever he is, that man is likely playing rock paper scissors with the angels for a chance to speed back down and hug you one last time. You were loved, and still are loved from beyond."

You can follow Annie (@anniefitness___) on Instagram for more fitness and personal content.

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