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As families gather to celebrate the holidays together, the searing loss of loved ones who are no longer with us is always felt. Their absence is a new pain to navigate and grief to tread through. And TikToker Chelsea Simons (@chelsea_simons525) knew that for her recently widowed grandmother, celebrating Christmas without her husband by her side would not be easy. So to make his memory last, she decided to gift her grandma with a Build-A-Bear programmed with her grandfather's voice.

"The firsts are always the hardest. This is our first Christmas without him, and i thought she’d love to hear his voice again," she captioned the video, which begins with Chelsea's grandma seated in a chair opening the gift alongside Chelsea's daughter. She instructs them to press the hand of the bear at the same time. "My grandma's reaction to hearing my grandpa's voice telling her goodnight for the first time since he passed in May broke my heart," she wrote.


It takes her grandmother a moment to process that it's her late husband's voice, but once she does she begins to cry, pressing the hand a few more times to hear it over and over. "Now you can have him with you every night to tell you 'goodnight'," Ashleigh says to her grandma before giving her a big hug.

@chelsea_simons525

The firsts are always the hardest. This is our first Christmas without him, and i thought she’d love to hear his voice again. #grief #loss #grandparents #christmas

The emotional video got many heartfelt comments. "Awww the way she's taking it in and processing all the emotions that unraveled when she heard his voice. I guarantee she thought she'd have to wait a while to hear that 'goodnight again ❤️," one TikToker commented, to which Chelsea replied, "I know it 😭." Another added, "I’m sobbing 😭 I know she’s going to bed every night with that bear🥺❤️🩹." When another viewer asked Chelsea how she got the recording into the Build-A-Bear, she explained, "I had a video of him and was able to just hold my phone up to their device that records the sound!"

Many people expressed how this thoughtful gift has helped them through their grief journeys. "I have similar like this but we videoed my stillborn daughters heartbeats! keep me going everytime i pressed her 🥰," one TikToker shared. Another wrote, "I got my Mom a bear as a child. She kept it until the day She passed. They even let Her get cremated with it. I then got myself a bear just like this with Her voice. It was the best decision."

Chelsea shared another video of her grandma becoming emotional at Thanksgiving earlier this year grieving her first Thanksgiving without her husband. Chelsea shared, "The first holiday with an empty seat at the table is the hardest. My sweet grandma is sure missing her husband of 62 years today. We tried to make today full of love and laughter for her, but he was still missed."

@chelsea_simons525

We’ll forever save you a seat at the table pop. 🤎 #missyou #grief #grandpa #thanksgiving

As the family sits around the table, her grandma wipes away tears and cracks a joke as she talks about the difficulty of the day without her husband. "There's a lot of good things about wine...it makes your eyes water," she says with a laugh. "If I can make it through this day, then maybe I can move ahead maybe to the next day. That's just the way it goes."

Chelsea's family was praised for giving her grandma space to talk about her grief. "I feel like when you're grieving, these conversations are so important. I grew up in a family that just didn't talk about it at all. Your grandma is lucky to have you guys ❤️," one viewer commented, and Chelsea replied, "We definitely talk about it. 🫶🏻."

Both videos are comforting reminders that the 'firsts' of holidays after loss can be made better with the love and support of family and friends.

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@masculineessence_

Visit TikTok to discover videos!

An unexpected confrontation caught on camera

Footage captured by a doorbell camera shows three young girls screaming and running inside as the HOA head approaches their house. Moments later, she rings the doorbell, and their father answers. Wasting no time, she immediately makes her demand:

"So, I am going to ask you to keep them inside," she says.

Clearly puzzled, the father responds with a simple but firm question:

"For what reason?"

Her reasoning? Multiple noise complaints from irritated neighbors.

"I have like 10 houses now contacting me. They are like barking at me and running," she explains.

Kids frolicking Representative photo by Katherine Hanlon | Unsplash

Dad isn’t backing down

At first, the father tries to reason with her, explaining that his daughters are just playing outside, as kids do. But as the conversation continues, his patience wears thin.

"That's what's wrong with this world because people like you and those other people don't let kids be kids, okay?" he says, his frustration growing.

Not interested in further debate, he firmly ends the conversation with:

"We appreciate you stopping by. Have a nice night."

Giphy


The video, captioned "HOA president gets mad at girls for playing," quickly took off online, with thousands of viewers chiming in on both sides of the argument.

TikTok reacts: Is the dad right, or was the HOA head reasonable?

The viral clip sparked a heated discussion, with some siding with the father and others sympathizing with the HOA president.

Some viewers believed the HOA head was being overly strict and that kids should be free to play outdoors.

@d33dspizza shared a wholesome perspective, writing:

"Our neighbors stopped over and said they loved hearing our kids playing and yelling outside… because theirs are all grown and moved out and they miss hearing it."

Representative photo by MI PHAM | Unsplash

Others, however, thought the volume level mattered—especially if the noise was disturbing residents at night.

@syb1375 pointed out that the HOA head had handled the situation calmly, saying:

"She was being respectful and came to reason with him instead of calling the police after getting so many complaints. It’s nighttime… people work in the morning."

Some commenters saw both sides but noted that ten different households complaining was significant.


"Not looking for a fight, but when 10 different households send a noise complaint, that’s a problem. We don’t know what noises they are making, so I can’t really take a side here."
— @Ilovehentaixdd

Meanwhile, @martin_arce acknowledged the HOA head’s position, writing:

"I wouldn’t be rude to her though. His neighbors demand it from her, and she’s gotta do it as her responsibility. And also, your neighbors’ demands aren’t unreasonable."


Giphy


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At its core, this situation highlights a larger debate: how much control should HOAs have over residents' daily lives? While some believe neighborhood rules help maintain peace, others argue that they often overstep boundaries—especially when they interfere with something as simple as kids playing outside.

Whatever the case, one thing is clear: this father had no intention of keeping his daughters cooped up inside just because some neighbors complained.


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