A proud single mom who worked two jobs and would give her son positive affirmations every morning when she dropped him off at school burst into tears when she finally surprised him with a car of his own on his 18th birthday.
36-year-old Julia Jauregui, from Pasadena, Texas, has an extremely close bond with her son, Samuel, and has recently been working two jobs to provide for him and make ends meet.
Every morning, Julia would drop Samuel off at school, at which point she would give him an uplifting boost, saying the likes of, “Be a leader,” “Have a great day,” and “I love you.”
These loving gestures became so entrenched in the pair’s relationship that Samuel would always give a loving response back, often saying, “I love you more,” only for his mom to correct him, “But I loved you first.”
The past couple of years had been tough, Julia admitted, as she moved out of the rental she had raised Samuel in since childhood, hoping to buy her own place with an ex-partner.
When that didn’t work out, Julia, working two jobs, was forced to put her belongings into storage and move back in with her mother.
But throughout this time, there was still one milestone she was hoping to achieve: surprising Samuel with a car for his 18th birthday.
Then, one day, on the way to school, Samuel asked his mom to take a detour to pick up kolaches and donuts – at this point, Julia spotted a “sporty looking” car on the side of the road, along with a for sale sign.
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The 36-year-old secretly enquired about the vehicle – a 2009 Ford Focus – and after a mechanic friend checked it out, Julia could negotiate the price down from $2,000 to $1,700.
For the entire month of September, she kept the car hidden, excitedly waiting for Samuel’s birthday, and during this time, she gave the vehicle some TLC and purchased a few additional items for the surprise.
Having captured her final school drop-off on video, Julia later took Samuel to a local restaurant on October 6, where close friends and family joined them.
After the meal, Samuel opened the likes of car cleaning products, at this point, Julia was already welling up with pride.
Then, when everything clicked, a humble Samuel, who was not expecting a car as a gift, asked his mom to confirm the items meant what he thought they did, before Julia shared a tearful hug with her son.
Julia shares her experiences as a single mom on TikTok, where her profile has more than 120,000 followers.
After posting a clip of the surprise, she said: “I was immediately overwhelmed with emotions as soon as he started opening the gift.
“My heart was literally about to jump out of my chest.
“To see him, little by little, realizing what it was, and his beautiful smile grinning from ear to ear filled me with inexplicable joy.
“As he opened the gift, all the flashbacks of the beautiful memories of all the drop-offs at school came running to my mind.
“I would always make sure I said little things, like ‘Be a leader,’ ‘Have a great day,’ and, most importantly, ‘I love you.’
“The best part of these drop-offs was when he would say, ‘I love you more.”
“Sometimes I would say, ‘I loved you first.”’
“As we were hugging, he said, ‘You did not get a car, Ma.’
“He said this because he knew things were difficult for us.
“I told him, ‘I did, I did get you a car; I told you I’d do it’ – crying, of course.
“Then I lifted my head off his shoulder and said, ‘I did it.’
“That’s when my son kissed my cheek, laid his head back on my shoulder and said, ‘I did not expect to cry today,’ and wiped off some tears.
“After that, we all went outside to see the big surprise.
“That’s when he saw the ca,r and we were all able to come together and celebrate this new chapter of his life.”
