Woman Finds Dog's Toy on Beach-Then She Reads the Back, Says ‘I'm Not Okay'

A simple walk along the shoreline turned unexpectedly emotional for one beachgoer after she discovered a washed-up toy carrying a deeply personal message.

Makena told Newsweek via TikTok that she initially spotted the Frisbee-like toy lying in the sand. She picked it up, unsure what it was, and discovered someone had written a note in black marker on the underside of the bright blue plastic disc. A grieving pet parent had used the object, beloved by their dog, Koda, as a final symbolic farewell. The note read: “If found, please toss back to sea. Koda, to the best boy there ever was. The love of my life. Rest peacefully, my sweet boy.”

She shared a photo of the heartbreaking find on her TikTok account @makena_v last week, which has since gained over 1.8 million views, 355,500 likes and 1,445 comments. Even though she never knew the dog, and none of the viewers had recognized the toy, the message still stopped her in her tracks, prompting her to write on the clip: “I’m not okay.”

“I stood there and cried for a minute because it was so sweet and sad,” she said, before she honored the request written by Kona’s owner and gently tossed the disc back into the water.

Hundreds of TikTok users joined Makena in shedding tears for the unknown pet owner. The dog toy’s journey struck a chord as a small, but powerful expression of love, loss and letting go.

“It's so sad but also it's so clear he was *so* loved,” wrote one viewer, while another added: “I know that puppy has the craziest zoomies running around up there.”

Several people shared that their own dogs who have passed on-many of whom were also named Koda-are now keeping this Koda company.

Another had conflicting feelings: “Am I the only one who thinks this is so sweet while simultaneously worried about plastics in the ocean.”

Why Objects Are Used in Grief Rituals

What may look like a simple handwritten note on a toy is often part of a much deeper pattern in how people process grief.

Research on grief rituals published in the journal Death Studies suggests that people often process loss through symbolic objects and intentional actions that give physical form to emotion. Everyday items can be transformed into "symbolic objects" that help individuals express, organize and work through grief. These objects are often used in meaningful actions such as writing on them, holding them during reflection or releasing them into nature.

In the case of the Koda’s bright blue dog toy, the object itself appears to have been intentionally used as part of this kind of informal ritual. By writing a message to Koda on the underside and asking that it be returned to the ocean, the pet owner transformed a simple dog toy into a vessel of remembrance, while the act of sending it back to the sea reflects a familiar grief ritual theme of letting go. Researchers note that these kinds of symbolic actions can help individuals externalize grief and create meaning and closure during bereavement.

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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 6:50 PM.