Woman Jokingly Texts Mom 'Did u make it home alive' — Turns Out She Was Dead (Exclusive)

• On Jan. 21, 2021 Maureen Branigan and her mom, Debbie Branigan, spent the whole day together

• As nightfall approached and a snowstorm rolled in, Debbie, who lived just three blocks away from her daughter in Philadelphia, figured it was time to head home. She got in her car and seemingly drove off

• Later, Maureen decided to text her to check in and ask, “Did u make it home alive lol?”

• That same night, Maureen's fiancé was out walking the dog, and noticed Debbie's car still parked outside, with her still in it, and next to it, an ambulance. Not much later, Maureen learned her mom had died from cardiac arrest

• Recently, Maureen decided to share on TikTok about her mom's death, in a video that has since gone viral

Maureen Branigan and her mom, Debbie Branigan, had spent the whole day together.

It was Jan. 21, 2021. They went grocery shopping, picked up ingredients to cook dinner — beef stew — then cuddled on the sofa and watched mindless TV. As nightfall approached and a snowstorm rolled in, Debbie, who lived just three blocks away from her daughter in Philadelphia, figured it was time to head home. She got in her car and seemingly drove off.

Debbie had been dealing with health issues for a while, including type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, but Maureen tells PEOPLE exclusively that, on that particular day, it was overall a really good one health-wise for her mom. Still, Debbie often joked about how she’d slip and "break her neck" whenever it snowed, which is why Maureen decided to text her to check in and ask, “Did u make it home alive lol?”

But Maureen never heard back.

"I didn’t think twice when she didn’t reply," Maureen, 30, says. "It wasn’t uncommon for her to just go home, go to bed, and then FaceTime me in the morning to make our plans for the day. We spent every day together."

It wasn't until later that night, when Maureen's fiancé was out walking the dog, that he noticed Debbie's car still parked outside, with her still in it, and next to it, an ambulance. It didn’t take him long to piece together that something was wrong.

When he told Maureen, she recalls not flinching.

"Immediately, I called my dad, who was at home. I told him he had to get here, and fast," she says. "At this point, we still had no idea what was going on. The medics couldn’t tell us anything, and we were stuck in limbo."

"Once my dad ran over, I think reality started to set in," she adds. "Since the car was still parked out front, we hopped in it and followed the ambulance to the hospital, which was just a three-minute drive. We didn’t speak much during that car ride. Looking back, I think we both knew what truth we were about to walk into."

Not much later, Maureen learned her mom had died from cardiac arrest. She was 52 years old.

"When I sent that text, never in my wildest imagination would I have thought it would result in her dying," she says. "Honestly, it wasn’t the first time I had texted her something along those lines, and it wasn’t the first time she had texted me like that, either. We morbidly joked pretty often."

"I’m an only child, so we were absolute best friends," Maureen continues. "Anyone who knows us could tell you we were together every single day. My mom embodied everything soft and strong simultaneously. Without fail, she was always in my corner. The best way I can describe her is that she wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone. Nothing scared her. I could hand her anything, and it was never too heavy. Maybe she couldn’t fix it, but she was there. She was the softest place to land."

Recently, the stay-at-home mom decided to share on TikTok about her mom's death, including a screenshot of the texts she had sent her beforehand, hoping to help others understand grief.

She recorded the video, fed her son lunch, cleaned up the kitchen, and after checking her phone, noticed the video had hit 1,000 views. A few hours later, it continued to blow up. Since then, her videos have amassed more than 670,000 views and nearly 900 comments.

"Without a doubt, the 'are u alive lol' text captured a glimpse of our sense of humor," Maureen says. "A few people in my life have even agreed — it makes sense that this was the last text I decided to send her."

"When I finally explained the text to my family and friends, they were initially taken aback, which I get," she adds. "But once it settled in, I think they saw the irony in it. The online reaction was far beyond what I expected. Hundreds of people shared similar stories of innocent texts ending in … well, death. And I’m glad they can see it’s okay to laugh at life’s twists and turns."

"So many people commented with their own stories; so many can relate," she continues. "I obviously know I’m not the first person to lose a parent, but to see how many people have lost friends or family in a similar fashion, while sad — of course — it brings solidarity. Feeling validated in my choice to embrace the laughter and quirks of this story really helps the grieving process."

Although a few years have passed since her mom's death, Maureen has learned that coping with loss isn't linear. In that time, she's discovered how to be more intentional with her choices, both in her life and in how she shows up for those around her.

"Some days I cry, and other days I gossip to her as if she can still hear me and answer back. I miss her in every moment of every day — the big and the small. I find myself doing that often — wanting to run to her with any and all news."

"Your grief is yours, no one else’s," she continues. "You might be grieving the same person as a lot of other people, but your grief is sacred. There is no right or wrong way to grieve, and there is no timeline. How you go about it is yours to choose. You can laugh like me, you can cry — but you have to acknowledge it. This pain demands to be felt. To feel it that deeply means you loved that deeply. And what a privilege that is."

Read the original article on People