20 years after her father's death, 'daddy's girl' receives a letter from him on her wedding day
"Today is your day, enjoy everything about it. Laugh and cry. Be happy and confident."
Philip Hargreaves wrote 9 letters to his daughter before he died.
Freya Rosati, 32, from Buckinghamshire, England, received the most incredible gift on her wedding day: a letter from her father, who had passed away 20 years ago. Freya “loved” her father’s card, making her feel like he was “really there” on the momentous occasion.
In 2002, Freya’s father, Philip Hargreaves, a pub landlord, was having constant indigestion. Tests revealed he had terminal esophageal cancer and just six months to live.
Freya is a confessed daddy’s girl, and she and her father did everything together. He took her to dance lessons, and they would play games together and watch movies. When Phillip learned that his days with his daughter were numbered, he got to work writing 9 letters to be given to her throughout her lifetime.
Eight of the letters were given to her on her birthdays, and one was written for her wedding day. "He wrote me cards every birthday up until my 18th, then one for my 21st, and a final for my wedding day. But the wedding day was the most important one," Freya said.
Bride gets letter from dad on wedding day – decades after his death: https://t.co/PIGnLbiO1M #weddings #family
Bride gets letter from dad on wedding day \u2013 decades after his death: https://t.co/PIGnLbiO1M\n\n#weddings #family— talker (@talker) 1696474920
Phillip passed away at 53 when Freya was just 11 years old. On the day that she married her love, Michael, Freya’s mother, Theresa, 68, read the letter her father wrote her and shared how she was instrumental in getting him to write. The letter was a fantastic way to make her dad present during the ceremony and was a perfect father-of-the-bride speech.
"Once he was very ill, I bought a selection of cards and helped him to write them for [inaudible] and Freya to receive on their birthdays and on their wedding day,” Theresa said. “I have the last one today for Freya, and she would like to share it with you to include her dad on her special day."
The letter had a simple and powerful message. It takes strength to make a marriage work, but Freya is more than up to the challenge.
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Bride receives message from her dad on wedding day, 20 years after his death
I wish I could be standing next to you, the proudest dad in the world, to walk you down the aisle to the man you love, and to the next chapter in your life. Today is your day, enjoy everything about it. Laugh and cry. Be happy and confident.
Face everything full-on. You will then succeed in your life together. You gave me some of the proudest moments in my life with your sense of humour, intelligence, understanding, and caring nature. Don’t ever change. Love you forever, dad.
The letter wasn’t her father's only contribution on the wedding day. She wore a diamond necklace that he gave her as a gift on her big day. All in all, Freya thinks her dad would have approved of her big day.
"My dad would've loved that wedding – just hearing his words, I can imagine him saying them to me," she concluded.
Phillip’s heartfelt letter to his daughter is a powerful reminder that our days are numbered. Never miss an opportunity to tell the people in your life how much you love them because you never know when you won’t be able to anymore.
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