Cemeteries are naturally sad places, but they can also, on occasion, bring great comfort.
This was precisely the case for one mother mourning her son, fallen soldier Sergeant TJ Butler.
Sergeant Butler was tragically killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan in 2012.
His mother Leslie was visiting his grave as she regularly did, at the Wilmington National Cemetery in North Carolina, when she noticed something strange: a mysterious message, carefully wrapped in a sealed plastic bag… addressed to none other than her own dead son.
Instant Connection
The messenger? Seven-year-old Mason.
It all began on Memorial Day, when Mason visited the Wilmington National Cemetery with his mother, Sara. Their goal was to honor the graves of fallen soldiers by placing American flags at the tombstones.
But while executing this most honorable deed, Mason suddenly disappeared. His worried mother began searching for him around the graveyard – and was rather dumbfounded when she found him at last.
There was little Mason, sitting at one particular soldier’s grave, appearing to be completely in awe. The grave belonged to none other than Sergeant TJ Butler.
“He kind of disappeared on me and I was panicked and I didn’t know where to find him,” mother Sarah said. “And he was sitting next to a headstone over here.”
The mother immediately sensed that Mason was connecting to Sergeant Butler’s grave.
“[He] had a lot of questions,” Sarah said. “He wanted to know if he had a son and a family, and wanted to know more about him.”
The unlikely bond between Mason and the fallen soldier went on for some time. Every time Sarah and Mason visited the cemetery, the young boy would gravitate back to Sergeant Butler’s grave.
At last, young Mason decided to “communicate” with his new friend. He asked for a pen and paper, and proceeded to draw and write his friend a sweet, personal note.
“He decided to draw a picture for him, and put it in a little ziplock bag to make sure the rain didn’t mess it up,” Sarah said. “He put his name on there and he left it for Sergeant Butler.”
A Mother’s Heartwarming Discovery
As Leslie was visiting her son’s grave one day, she inevitably discovered Mason’s sweet note laying on her son’s tombstone.
“That letter that Mason left us touched our hearts to know that there was someone out there that still cared,” Leslie said.
“I’m grateful that in some aspects, my son’s not forgotten,” she added. “And as long as Mason is here, he’ll place his flag every year. I can be happy that I know that Mason will give TJ his flag.”
Leslie finally met Mason in a heartwarming encounter that will touch your heart. Have a look at the video below.
What a sweet story – it really made my heart warm up. I am so glad Leslie got to meet her son’s new number one fan.
Please share Mason’s story to honor the memory of Sergeant Butler and all our other fallen heroes.
