Credits: Social Media
Autistic husband’s poem to neighbor grieving his dog’s death is unintentionally funny
A woman filmed her ‘autistic husband’ reading out a heartfelt poem he penned for his neighbor who is grieving the death of his dog Linda, and TikTok users aren’t sure how to feel about it.
The viral video has been viewed over 9.3 million times, yet one could watch it over and over again, depending on how it’s perceived.
Autistic husband writes poem to neighbor who’s mourning his dead dog
TikTok user Carly Rae Hanson posted the video of her husband reading out the poem he penned for their neighbor. She captioned it: “I can’t even deal with him.”
Before he started to read it out aloud, the wife asked her husband: “Tell me why you think it’s okay to send that to your neighbor whose dog just died.” He responded: “Steve’s dog just died and I feel really bad. So I wrote him a poem. I am going to send it to him in the mail.”
To give you some context, Carly claims her husband is autistic with “no emotions” – characterized by the condition alexithymia, which affects one in five autistic people, making it hard for them to identify, understand, and describe certain emotions.
Hence, the TikTok user believes the poem her husband wrote may not convey his emotions and feelings appropriately, but users think otherwise.
Viral poem is unintentionally funny
After listening to her husband’s poem, Carly, who appeared to be giggling in the background when he recited it, says: “It’s not funny.” He replies: “It’s not meant to be funny. It’s meant to help him grieve.”
“Sorry, Steve,” he says, looking into the camera as the video ends.
For those curious, the poem written by Carly’s husband reads:
“Steve, Linda is dead. No longer can be fed.
She used to play, no longer is okay.
Did she go in her bed or did you give her the lead?
She’s in a better place, just not your place.
My condolences.”
Users aren’t sure how to react
Although Carly’s husband did not intend to make his poem sound funny and his emotions about his neighbor’s dead dog were genuine, many users aren’t able to help but laugh at its wording.
But, several of them who are aware of autism and its impact on individuals have praised the husband for beautifully expressing his feelings in the form of a poem.
“My oldest is on the spectrum and this is 10000% her comforting someone. Shes said some wild stuff to me during my hard times but I appreciate her,” said one user.
“OMG. Pretend that you mailed it out because Steve cannot see this,” wrote another.
One comment read: “It will only be an acceptable gift if you send him this video as an explanation LOL.”
“If I received this, my mood would be boosted! I hope it brightens Steve’s day,” added another.
