Tara Stilwell didn’t expect her fast TikTok tale, which she posted while her baby dozed on her chest, to go viral.

Stilwell posted the video, which has received over seven million views on the app, “on a whim,” telling the tale of how she asked her late six-year-old son, Wilder, for a sign that he could still hear her after his death.

“I had just read the book called Signs; it’s a pretty common book people read directly after losing someone they love,” she tells us in the clip. “It says to be really specific about what you ask for.”

Tara chose something that reminded her of her son: a Lego. More specifically? A red Lego.

Stilwell then asks her son to show her a Lego “in a place where it didn’t belong.”

Later that day, while sitting in the waiting area for her daughter’s ballet lesson, Stilwell saw a family she had never seen before, as well as their small child playing. She started up a friendly chat with the mother, who she discovered was not meant to be at the class that day and had children in a makeup class. She recalls that the youngster was wearing a shirt that looked just like one her son used to possess.

The youngster then approached her without saying anything and handed her a single red Lego. Stilwell recalls crying right away but trying to keep it hidden from the mother and the kid so they wouldn’t freak out.

The experience, which she detailed on TikTok, elicited hundreds of emotional responses, with many viewers feeling driven to share their own memories of “signs” from loved ones.

Tara told PEOPLE about her reaction to the internet response: “People have messaged me saying they felt inspired, they got a sign, and it’s just snowballed into this really beautiful thing.”

Stilwell, who lost her son almost four years ago, said the video came from a time of introspection. “I was just thinking about how far we’ve come and how many moments I’ve had where I’ve felt connected to him, and that just came out,” according to her.

In a follow-up video, Tara discussed how it felt to hear her son’s name spoken on the Internet. “I don’t get to say Wilder’s name in the same way that I used to,” she tells me. “I certainly still say it every day, but I am no longer referred to as Wilder’s mother. For a brief moment, I felt like Wilder’s mother again.

She goes on to tell PEOPLE, “It feels incredible to hear strangers say my son’s name.” But he brought all these individuals together, which is a tribute to how unique he was and continues to be.”

Stilwell claims she still communicates with Wilder through dreams, recollections, and unexpected situations, such as that red Lego. The scene with the small child in the dance studio has been replayed in her thoughts “many times.”

“Our rational brain wants to explain it away. “And my logical brain cannot explain it away,” she continues. “It doesn’t make sense.” The fact that I had been breaking down and crying to him, asking for a very particular sign that I believed spoke to him, and then, mere hours later, a stranger is not just wearing the same clothing as my kid. “He wasn’t even playing with Legos—he was playing with cars.”

Stillwell is focused on Wilder’s ongoing influence on her family’s life. After returning to her hometown to be closer to family, Tara renewed a connection with someone from her high school, whom she feels Wilder brought into her life.

“I truly believe that Wilder was like, Okay, I’m going to send somebody your way to, like, hold your hand through it,” she recently told PEOPLE.

She says Wilder even blessed her partner in a dream he had. “It was when we first started seeing each other, and he stated the dream took place in the house we currently reside in. And he stepped outside, and Wilder stood there and asked, ‘Who are you?'” And he introduced himself,” she remembers. “Then Wilder asked, ‘Are you good?'” And my spouse answered, ‘I think I’m OK.’ And he said, “Okay, you can stay.”

Stilwell believes that the film may inspire people to make their own connections. “To connect with your loved one, you have to sit in the pain,” she tells me. “If individuals can allow themselves to be vulnerable and sit with their distress, they can recognize the indications and feel close to their loved ones.