”We’re only taking the most important things with us,” dad says before Typhoon Hagibis, and son knows exactly what that is.

Typhoon Hagibis, one of the most powerful storms to hit Japan in years, barreled across Japan last weekend, causing flooding and power outages in many parts of east Japan. A small blessing, though, was that meteorologists were able to predict the path of the storm well in advance, allowing them to issue ample warnings to residents who needed to safeguard and/or evacuate their homes.

Japanese Twitter user @takamosyatyo’s friend, for example, knew that he and his family were going to have to evacuate. While they were making preparations, @takamosyatyo reports, the father told his five-year-old son, “We’re going to leave the house, and we’re only taking the most important things with us.”

That might sound like a difficult concept for a kid to grasp, but the boy immediately knew the one thing, above all else, that he’d need. Was it his favorite Ultraman figure? A Pikachu plushie? Some tasty snacks?

Nope. When told it was time to get his most important things, the boy instantly wrapped his arms around his dad’s leg and said “That’s you, Papa.”

That’d be a genuine tearjerker under any circumstances, but there’s another layer to the story that really opens up the waterworks. @takamosyatyo’s friend is a single father whose wife has passed away. What’s more, in relaying the story @takamosyatyo describes the five-year-old as his friend’s “oldest son,” implying that there’s at least one more, even younger boy who’s growing up without his mother, and so it’s no wonder that the older kid was quick to cling to his dad when faced with the prospect of losing things in the typhoon.

“Another typhoon just passed through my tear ducts,” @takamosyatyo wrapped up his tweet with, and he wasn’t the only one to experience the phenomenon.

“I can report that that same typhoon just passed thorough my tear ducts too.”
“Two typhoons over here. One in my right eye, and one in the left.”
“I’m inside my house, but it’s pouring rain all of a sudden.”

Don’t put away the tissues just yet, though. When @takamosyatyo’s friend was telling him about his son’s touching gesture, the single father said “Right then, I renewed my promise that I’d protect this kid, no matter what.” That prompted one more commenter to write “This is such a wonderful story, and I’m sure your wife is happy too,” because for someone who was taken from her children far too soon, what could be more reassuring than seeing that her husband has taught their children just how much family is to be treasured.

Source: Twitter/@takamosyatyo via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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