Mom Goes Viral After She Received Teen's New School Pictures and Immediately Burst Into Tears (Exclusive)

A California-based mom is going viral for her emotional, relatable reaction to her son getting older.

Kim Salisbury, a 55-year-old mom of two, tells PEOPLE that it was a normal busy day at home when her son Camden's, 17, latest school photos came in. Upon seeing the photos, she proceeded to do what she normally does — get the photo album, reach for the glue stick, and add it to its appropriate spot — when something stopped her in her tracks.

"I was in a hurry, reaching for the glue stick when I saw only one slot left, and this visceral reaction happened to me," she says. "I can’t even really explain it beyond that."

The doting mom, who's always sharing parts of her life on her social media, immediately grabbed her phone and decided to share this emotional moment with her over 36,000 followers. She explains to PEOPLE that she was "shocked" at how much that single moment affected her.

"I just started crying immediately," she shares. "But it wasn’t necessarily sad crying, just emotional. I put the photo in, went to close the book, and then I saw a few more pictures of him as a little boy, and it just hit me again. It just stopped me in my tracks."

Looking back at a few of the photos from her son's school years took Salisbury, who's also a mother to daughter Phoebe, 20, down an emotional memory lane. In the caption of her post, which has garnered over 420,000 likes, she reflected on how fast time passes, telling her followers with little children to cherish every moment.

"Don’t blink. It goes by SO fast. Mamas with littles, I know you are in it right now. But I’m here to tell you, The days are long, the years are SHORT," she wrote. "You can’t even imagine how fast it goes until you go to do the same thing you’ve done every year since your first kid started getting school pictures, and you burst into tears. 😭"

Salisbury tells PEOPLE that the online reaction to her post was "immediate and raw." As she watched the video go viral, she says she soaked in all of the likes, comments and shares, with each sweet note almost showing how much viewers resonated with the moment.

"I was just talking to [her loyal followers], but it has resonated with so many more," she says, adding that the video have touched a wide range of people. "I’m trying to respond to as many comments as I can, because I can feel the emotion coming through, but it’s been hard to keep up. I wish I could talk with each person reaching out to me. It’s had such an emotional reaction."

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Reflecting on her method of preserving memories over the years, Salisbury, who's the founder and CEO of the home organizing company Home Method Co., says that she's "beyond grateful" for having the physical albums. Through them, she and her husband Christian Salisbury, 53, have a bunch of pictures showcasing small snapshots of their children's lives.

"These books are tangible, and document the kids lives through their school and sports photos, along with small snapshots of what their life was like at each stage," she says.