Grief is a subjective process that everybody deals with in their own individual way. For Carole Adler, who lost her 21-year-old son Taylor while he was training to become a state trooper, texting her son’s old phone eased her sadness.
Carole has found herself in the headlines this week however, after the story of her late son’s ‘reply’ to a text she sent to his old phone went public.
While Carole had been sending messages to the phone owned by Taylor, who died in a car accident, it turns out that they were being diverted to someone else who had been given the old number.
In what has to be a stroke of fate, the person who now has Taylor’s old number is Police Sergeant Kell Husley, who is living out Taylor’s dream of serving the community.
At first, Husley ignored the text, but after a particularly heartwrenching message from Carole, he decided to get in touch.
“I sent a text back and identified myself, and said ‘I’m with the Greeley Police Department, and I don’t think your texts are going where you think they are,'” Husley told local media.
After engaging in conversation with Carole, Husley offered to change his number out of respect – something which Carole said not to do. She viewed it as a connection with her late son, counting the chance happening as a stroke of fate.
For Husley, too, the connection with Carole and the late Taylor has proven important.
“It’s good for me to remember all the wonderful things he was looking forward to. It’s like I always have a little angel in my pocket now,” Husley added.
