Toddler Puts Cat’s Urn Down Slide (Exclusive)

Nicole DelGiudice’s 2-year-old daughter, Harlee, was playing on the slide when she turned to her mom with an unexpected question: Could she send the family cat down the slide, too?

Their beloved cat, Smokey, died at the age of 9 on April 16, 2023. DelGiudice, 32, tells PEOPLE that Smokey was the sweetest, most affectionate cat — he even loved playing fetch. Since Harlee was only 6 weeks old when Smokey died, she was too young at the time to understand what had happened.

It wasn’t until the second anniversary of his death that Harlee noticed DelGiudice holding Smokey’s urn and asked, “Mama, what’s that?”

“I told her that even though we can’t see him anymore, he’s somewhere sleeping peacefully and that we’ll see him again one day,” DelGiudice, who lives in Long Island, N.Y., recalls. “I told her we can still remember him and love him.”

Since then, the mom says Harlee often asks for the urn. Once, she recalls her daughter placing the urn on the bed and saying, “Kitty sleeping,” as she set it on the pillow.

So when Harlee asked if she could send the cat down the slide, DelGiudice immediately said yes. But when she initially asked, DelGiudice thought her daughter meant she would go down the slide holding the urn in her hands.

However, that’s not exactly what Harlee had in mind.

“I wasn’t exactly expecting her to send him down by himself,” the mom says. “I just let it happen because I like to allow her to express the use of her own free will, as long as there’s no harm in it.”

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At the time, DelGiudice captured the moment on camera. She thought it was a funny moment that reflected the real and unpredictable nature of raising a toddler.

She later shared the video on TikTok, hoping to bring a smile to people’s faces. But then, the video went viral. It has now amassed more than 3 million views and upwards of 3,300 comments.

“this took an unexpected (t)urn,” one person commented.

“Me at first:I hope it’s a tolerant cat. Me a few seconds later:😳😬😅,” another wrote.

Someone else replied, “putting the fun in funeral.”

“Most of the comments made me laugh, to be honest,” the mom says. “There were a lot of funny ones that had me cracking up. I think the video resonates with the people who cope with dark humor.”

“Several of the comments expressed the video giving them ‘the laugh they needed,’ or came from others who have also lost a pet and found my video to be healing in a way,” she continues. “It’s a good feeling to know my videos can positively impact someone else in different ways.”

DelGiudice adds that when it comes to teaching a child how to grieve, it’s important to allow them to ask questions and to be honest.

“Even in times of sadness, there can still be moments of joy,” she says. “Grief doesn’t always have to look a certain way. I also feel like most of us get so caught up with what’s going on in our lives, we get distracted and forget our pets are with us for only a short time. It’s a reminder that sometimes we need to slow down and be present.”