You won’t regret reading this, I promise.. I know it’s long-winded, but it’s super unusual, so please take the few minutes to peruse!!

The experience that got me interested in this conversation happened with my son. For reference, he’s a little over 1.5 years old, and is super laid back. There are a few things that he dislikes, and he’ll fuss or complain, but nothing has ever made him outright sob at the drop of a hat.. He’s a chill dude; There’s always a reason!!

So, I brought out this cute little music box that I loved as a kid. As soon as it began playing my son started SOBBING uncontrollably. My partner and I looked to each other, bewildered, and assumed he didn’t like something about it, and we moved it out of sight. It took our son a considerable amount of time to calm down.

A week or so later, we reintroduced it, hoping the first time was a fluke. Instantaneous sobbing ensued.. but this time, we realized he wanted to hold it!! He wasn’t scared of it, he was enamored by it!! He continued to sob as he reached, and picked the music box up out of my hands, and clutched it close to his chest.

I was a little apprehensive bc it’s breakable, so I gently removed it from his grasp, and held it in front of him so he could still look at it. He only wailed harder, desperately reaching out to hold the music box again. It took a realllly long time to calm him down yet again..

He’s never been this inconsolable about anything.. and it happens every.single.time. he interacts with this music box

I tried one more experiment.. I wound it up in another room, and let it play, (without him seeing it.) This time he was in the tub. (I wanted to try different times of day/ different locales/ different sensory inputs, etc.) Whelp, as soon as he heard the music box.. Exact.Same.Reaction... and the ensuing aftermath.

The important thing to note here is this music box used to be my big brother’s when he was little. Aaand my big brother died before my son was born..

I know how this sounds, and my partner doesn’t believe in reincarnation at all- so I get it from that perspective.. But I keep wondering, what if, ya know?

Have any of you heard of anything like this? (Nothing creepy please! lol) Have any of you had similar experiences that you’d like to share? 💚