16 hours ago
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It was the ghost of father passed.
A UK woman was moved to tears after spotting her late father sitting in his favorite spot on Google Maps 11 years after his death.
“I cried when I found it. All those memories came flooding back,” Katie Scott, 49, said of spotting her dad’s digital specter, which is frozen in time thanks to Google’s Street View feature.
Her father Arthur Scott had reportedly been diagnosed with stage three kidney failure in 2008, prompting his daughter to move in with him as his full-time caretaker.
“When he was diagnosed, we were told that he’d only have a few years left so I moved in with him to look after him,” the Manchester resident recalled. “It was a shock when he was diagnosed and it heartbreaking to think about losing him.”
He then passed away four years later in 2013 at the age of 83, leaving his daughter devastated.
Little did she know, however, that her late father had been immortalized online.
Shortly after his passing, Katie was viewing his home on Google Maps when she discovered a picture of her father sitting on the bench outside his home, soaking up the sun just like old times.
Another photo showed Arthur’s German Shepherd Elsa, who died several years before him, wandering into the house.
“When I found the image, I was so emotional,” Katie gushed. “That was his favorite spot. As soon as the sun came out, he was on that bench.”
She added, “It was upsetting but I was happy. I don’t have many photos of my dad, but we were very close.”
Unfortunately, the Brit had her heart broken yet again after Google updated the image shortly afterward, making her think he’d been lost forever.
Then, last month, Katie discovered through various TikTok tutorials that she “could access older Google Street View images.”
“I found out on TikTok that you can look at older photos and it was lovely to see him again,” she gushed.
In fact, visiting late relatives on Google Street View has become all the rage among nostalgia-seeking Gen Zers, who regularly view photos of loved ones sitting on their porches or gardening in their front yards.
“Somewhere, on Google Maps, it is a sunny day in 2008 and both my grandparents are still alive and working on their yard together,” wrote one creator Tyra Littlefield in a viral TikTok video.
“Somewhere, on Google Maps, my grandma and I are sitting on a bench on the porch of my childhood home, while I’m holding my family dog in 2011,” wrote another user, who goes by Kenzie Stevens.
Nonetheless, Katie said this virtual version was no substitute for the real deal.
“He had a brilliant sense of humor and our relationship was mostly based on humor,” she said. “It’s been hard living without him.”
English (US)