Mother reveals the sweet meaning behind viral graduation gift for her daughter

‘I wanted to give her a few things for those important moments that I’m going to miss’

A mother has discussed the sweet meaning behind the now viral gift that she made for daughter, after her high school graduation.

Erin Percy, who goes by the username @erinpercy60, shared a recent video on TikTok of the gift for her daughter, who will be going to college in the fall. Throughout the footage, which was set to a score from the Pixar film Up, the mother showcased a handful of wrapped presents, with a different note attached to each one.

The first gift was labelled with a note that read: “Open me when it’s cold outside,” while the second gift had a note that said: “Open me when you catch a cold.” This trend continued with other gifts, two of which read: “Open me when you need a little me time” and “Open me when you don’t have time to do laundry”.

While she continued to showcase the rest of the presents, Percy ended her video by placing one gift, which read: “Open me when we say goodbye”, in a basket.

As of 25 May, the video has more than 1.2m views, with TikTok users praising the gifts in the comments. They also expressed how they wanted to know what the presents were.

“The goodbye one broke me,” one person wrote, while another added: “This is so sweet.”

A third wrote: “You’re KILLING ME. I’m dying to see what’s inside. My daughter is off to university in the fall and I’ve been thinking about the care packages.”

Speaking to Today.com, Percy shared that her daughter, Abby Rose, will be leaving her hometown in Alabama in the fall, as she’ll be attending the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

She also acknowledged why these various gifts to her daughter were so important . “I wanted to give her a few things for those important moments that I’m going to miss,” she explained.

The mother went on to praise her relationship with Abby, noting that when she was battling cancer, her daughter was by her side. She also confessed some of the daily fears that she still has, as a stage 3 breast cancer survivor.

“Abby Rose was my biggest cheerleader when I was sick from surgery, chemo and radiation,” Percy shared. “Even though I’m seven years in remission, I worry, ‘What if I can’t be there for her?’ Subconsciously, I think that had something to do with the gifts as well.”

Although Abby’s school is nine hours away from home, Percy acknowledged how thrilled she is for her daughter and her upcoming opportunity.

“I’m so excited for this next chapter,” she explained. “She had a hard high school experience because of Covid — and I just want her to have an awesome, normal, college experience.”

Speaking to Today.com, Percy also revealed what her gifts actually were. For example, in the gift labelled “Open me when we say goodbye”, the mother gave her daughter a necklace.

“When she was little I used to sing her the song ‘You are my Sunshine,’” she explained. “So I got her a sun necklace — and we each get one half. I’m already wearing mine.”

For a gift labelled “Open me when you need a little jolt,” she got Abby a Starbucks gift card, in addition to an Insomnia Cookies gift card, which was part of her “Open me before midterms” gift. She also got her daughter “a week’s worth of socks and underwear”, which was for Abby to open when she doesn’t “have time to do laundry”.

The Independent has contacted Percy for comment.