This July, a little boy named Antonio Vargas Jr. lost his mother. When Christmas came around, his father Antonio Vargas Sr. wanted to do something a little extra special. So he went to a Build-A-Bear store and created a very unique gift: A plush monkey that played audio recordings of Antonio Jr.’s late mother’s voice.
Vargas Sr. filmed the moment his son opened the gift, as the boy immediately burst into tears upon hearing his mother’s voice. Watching this video will have you reaching for the tissues, too:
The stuffed monkey played his mother’s voice saying three phrases:
“I love you to the world and back,” “Give me a big hug. I love you,” and “I love you guys so much, and I will always love you.” How truly touching.
The fact that the stuffed animal was a monkey held significance, too. “We always called our son our little monkey. So on Christmas Day, his dream came true!!! I love my little man with all my heart, Daddy loves you,” the dad wrote on Facebook.
Vargas Sr.’s video gained quite a bit of attention online, and has already been viewed over 600,000 times on YouTube. People wrote in to tell the father what a great gift he had given to his son.
“That is beautiful…Your son will cherish that forever. You are an awesome Dad…God Bless you All,” one person commented on Facebook, and many other wrote in sharing similar sentiments.
Having others reach out touched the father, and he wrote a big thank you to everyone for their kind words on a GoFundMe page that has been set up to help the family.
“I want to start by saying Thank You from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has been very supportive of the video and who took the time to express their sincere condolences,” Vargas Sr. wrote.
The father continued, “Because this happened so fast we did not expect anyone to offer a helping hand, but due to multiple request we decided to create an account for those interested in helping. I would also like to express my deepest condolences and prayers to those who have also lost a loved one and may God continue to bless your family.”
This was a very touching moment between father and son, and hopefully the little monkey will serve as a reminder of the late mother. Wishing all the best to this family!
