As a society, we try are hardest to shield our children from the tragedies of life—but sometimes that is simply unavoidable. TikToker @abortiaderossi recently started a series in their TikToks revisiting a childhood tragedy they went through. Now that they are grown up they can face it like an adult. And facing it like an adult in Millennial and/or Gen-Z terms means making a joke out of it.
When this TikToker was in the 3rd grade a horrible tragedy struck his family and he lost his cousin. During that time his classmates made him sympathy cards. A very sweet thought, but as the TikToker says, sometimes very inappropriate. He asks why the teachers didn't vet these cards, but nonetheless, he got them. Now, he can look back at these cards and laugh at the absurdity of a 3rd grader trying to understand death and convey their sympathies of it to another classmate.
Schoolhouse Sympathy vol. 1
The drawings on these cards are already questionable. Remember, these are 3rd graders, so their skill level is not the best yet. Some kids thought it was a good idea to draw his cousin lying in a casket and another even thought it would be a good idea to draw a reconstruction of the car crash scene that his cousin was in… If the tragedy wasn't traumatizing enough, these cards must have really sealed the deal.
Schoolhouse Sympathy vol. 2
Schoolhouse Sympathy vol. 3
It's the thought that counts and these kids really did try—they just wanted to comfort a fellow classmate. It's not their fault that they were too young to understand the loss of a cousin. But, damn, why didn't the teacher think this through? Were the 90's/early 00's really that frivolous of a time?
Also in these cards the children bring up another core memory of this TikToker of him losing his favorite rock from his rock collection. Apparently, before the tragedy he brought his rock collection to school for show and tell, but then someone stole his favorite rock. So many of these cards say sorry for your loss and then mention the loss of his rock as well. It's double traumatizing, even if you weren't in the 3rd grade at the time.
Schoolhouse Sympathy vol. 4
Schoolhouse Sympathy vol. 5
Schoolhouse Sympathy vol. 6
Again, these kids were just trying to be nice, but they just couldn't comprehend the gravity of the situation. At least now, this TikToker can have a laugh when revisiting this childhood trauma.