The Viral Porch Goose Story Starts Sweet and Ends in Tears

TikTok often reminds us that, despite the world being a pretty crazy and confusing place, there are still kind people with sweet and genuine hearts. Like TikToker Emma Lou (@emily_jean21), whom I’m going to dub Porch Goose Girl. She’s going viral on TikTok because of her porch goose story (yes, it involves an actual plastic goose that sits on your porch) and how it connected her to an elderly couple a few blocks away.

They, too, had a porch goose, and Emma took it upon herself to leave little outfits and cute notes on their doorstep without ever having met the couple.

But it turns out their first interaction revealed that the man in the elderly couple had recently passed away (his wife had passed years earlier), so her heartfelt story went from sweet to a little heartbreaking. Here’s everything to know about the viral porch goose story you might’ve heard about.

Emma took to TikTok in February 2026 to share details about a kind gesture she did out of her love for her porch goose. In the video, she explained that an elderly couple who lived about two blocks away also had a porch goose and regularly dressed it up (just like Emma does).

Noticing their shared love for porch geese, Emma decided she’d occasionally drop off an outfit for their porch goose along with a cute little note, but kept it anonymous, often signing it “Love, your friends on Melody Lane.”

Then one day, she found a bag dropped off outside her door with “Porch Goose Friends” written on it. Naturally, Emma was pretty excited (and very emotional) that the couple had found her and left her a little something, showing that her efforts were being acknowledged.

But what she found inside wasn’t what she expected. It was a note from the couple’s daughter, sharing the news that her dad, the elderly man who owned the porch goose, had passed away.

Emma immediately began sobbing, but continued to read the note through her tears. It not only mentioned how the man "was so tickled by [her] messages,” but also explained that he would have the grandkids dress up the porch goose with the outfits she left.

The letter revealed that the porch goose had originally belonged to his wife (the note writer’s mother), who had requested it as a birthday gift in the early ’90s. Apparently, she loved the porch goose just as much as Emma does, and would dress it up regularly, host photo shoots, and even dress it for special occasions.

After she passed away in 2018, her husband and grandkids continued the tradition, and then Emma came along to help keep it going (though she didn’t realize it at the time).

While the initial “interaction” between Emma and the couple didn’t go as she had planned, it left her realizing that our “acts of kindness mean a lot more than you think.” Along with the letter, she also received a cookbook that had belonged to the woman’s mother, with some pages containing handwritten notes.

So, even though Emma had never met the elderly man, it’s like they developed a real connection both clearly felt. What makes the story even more interesting is that the elderly man passed away on the same day as Emma’s grandmother. It’s like they were destined to connect!

Emma’s story was so touching (and viral) that it prompted many people to go out and find their own porch geese. Her video even caught the attention of Instacart, which sent her all the ingredients needed to try out some of the recipes featured in the cookbook the family had gifted her. Needless to say, it was a heartwarming and heart-wrenching story all at once!