A social media trend where people search Google Maps for archived photos has helped one woman take a sweet but unexpected walk down memory lane. Thanks to Google Maps, people have long been able to explore archived images that allow them to revisit their childhood neighborhood, catch glimpses of deceased loved ones or their younger selves, and even see gone-but-not-forgotten childhood pets.
The photos, snapped by Google’s “Street View” feature, allow users to see zoomed in views of streets all over the world. In a sweet development, one image even momentarily reconnected a woman with her beloved childhood dog during an unrelated search.
A surprise from the past
Becky Turner turned to the archives of Google Maps Street View hoping to find an old image she knew existed on the platform. She was looking for a snapshot of her sister riding a bike in the driveway, she told People. But she didn’t find the photo she was looking for. Instead, she was completely caught off guard by a photo of her sister and their deceased cat.
The surprises didn’t stop there.
In a video Turner posted to her TikTok account that has gained more than nine million views, she showed off a Google Maps photo of her yard from 2011. She zooms in to reveal her childhood dog, Sonny, joyfully gamboling in the grass.
“And somewhere on Google Maps in 2011 my childhood dog is still prancing around the sunny front yard,” she writes in the chyron across the screen.
She was shocked to find a never-before-seen photo of her beloved dog. “It was a new experience with him that I got to have, and that made it feel really special. Even after death, I’m still discovering that he finds ways to tell me he is around,” she told People.
“I believe that dogs only live so long because they are here to teach us, and when the job is done, they can rest. A dog is only a portion of our life, but we are their whole life,” Turner told People. “We should try to make it as fulfilling as possible for them, and be happy for the moments we shared together, and the memories made along the way.”
Other users were inspired to look for their loved ones
Turner isn’t the only one to reconnect with a loved one via the map’s Street View feature. Thousands of users took to her comment section to share sweet stories of loved ones or pets they were able to see in the platform’s archives. Many added that being able to revisit these memories has helped them grieve and offered a special way to reconnect.
“I can see my husband out in our driveway, he’s been gone 11 years,” one user remarked.
“I love how there’s little bits of them still wherever we go and even in places we don’t look for it,” another added.
“There’s a picture of my papa in 2010 doing yard work by the street on maps. I hope they never update it,” one user commented.
Another user added they “went on there to see what the color of our house used to be. ended up crying,” posted alongside a picture of their own now-deceased dog.
“It’s nice to know my Old Boy is still chasing Cars away from the Old house…” one user shared with an image of their dog at the end of a driveway.
“I go back every once in a while to see the only picture of my childhood dog,” added another.
One user even painted the picture Turner found of Sonny, saying, “Hope you don’t mind. This was too nice not to paint.”
She’s carrying on Sonny’s legacy
In a somewhat serendipitous twist, Turner’s own career has long helped others keep their own beloved pets close to their hearts.
Turner is a tattoo artist in New Haven, Connecticut, and sometimes tattoos portraits of pets for her clients. “It’s reassuring to know that animals impact other people so deeply, too,” she told People. “I’m so happy I can help memorialize and heal people who have lost their fur buddies.”
