Our newsfeeds are rammed full of emotional posts designed to tug at our heartstrings every day, and crafted to make you feel feelings, and share with ‘OMG SO SAD CRYING’ minutes after you’ve sobbed at your desk. This seems to get even more extreme during the Christmas period, where festive ads are considered a failure if you don’t go on an emotional journey while simultanously being tricked into buying shit you don’t need.
But the hugely popular Last Messaged Received Tumblr, launched by an Ohio teenager, really is a moving read. Ranging from huge loss – like losing a parent, to a bad end to a break-up, the Tumblr shows texts that capture the final moments of a relationship – and it’s gripping.
Many are about tragic deaths and circumstances, and we can imagine submitting them must have been incredibly cathartic for the senders.
Emily Trunko, a 15-year-old who lives in Copley, Ohio, created the Tumblr, asking for anonymous letters and text messages for the project – and according to an interview in the New York Times, recieved more than 2,500 submissions in just a few weeks.
She told the paper the reason for the Tumblr’s success was simply that people get extra-sentimental at Christmas.
‘A lot of people are getting more sentimental and thinking more about family and interacting with loved ones,’ she said. ‘I think Last Message Received can hit home with them.’
This isn’t the first viral Tumblr Emily, who attends an online high school in Ohio, has created. She also set up Dear My Blank, where people submitted letters they will never send – mainly to exes, crushes and parents – and again, the theme of loss is very apparent in the posts.
Apparently, the success of Emily’s Tumblrs means a book deal is in the works.
Have a read through the posts yourself here – but seriously, make sure you have some tissues.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.