Mystery tribute touches mother of dead son

When a mother from western P.E.I. saw a photo of a tribute to her son, who had died the year before, she wanted to know who it was her son's life had touched so much.

Twenty-nine year old Clifford Shea was killed in a single car accident in April 2015.

A few weeks ago, his mother Darlene Shea received a photograph from her niece. It was of a car parked at Walmart in Summerside. On the car's back window was a sticker that included Clifford's name.

"In quotations it says 'Hard work forever pays.' And then underneath it says, 'Clifford Shea 04.25.2015,'" Shea told CBC News.

"I thought, 'Oh my gosh, who is this?' I just wanted to know who my son touched so much that they needed to have such a tribute to him."

The Tignish mother posted the photo of the car on Facebook asking for help to find the car's owner. Eventually the owner himself sent her a message on Facebook.

'It makes me think of him every time I get out of my car'

Vincent Ellsworth, who lives in St. Louis, not far from Tignish, told her Clifford helped him through some tough times, and taught him that even in the dark days, things would get brighter.

Ellsworth said the idea for the sticker came shortly after his friend`s death.

"These words come from a song that just came out after he died, and that one of my good friends and me, we used to think of Clifford whenever it came on," he said.

"It says `Hard work forever pays"; it says, 'See you in the better days.' I felt emotional, I felt like I missed him, and all the good times we ever had, and it makes me think of him every time I get out of my car, I think of him."

Ellsworth said he will always carry Clifford Shea's lessons with him, to look positively towards the future, rather than dwelling on the past.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Charlottetown sticking with its horses
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Want a long life? Live on P.E.I.