On his fourth death anniversary, she texted him an emoji-filled message as usual.
Destiny works in mysterious ways. In 2019, it brought together two grieving strangers: a daughter who had lost her dad and a dad who had lost his daughter. Chastity Patterson (now Chastity Rhodes) found an unusual way to cope with her sorrow. For four years, she texted her late father Jason Ligons' phone number every day, unaware that a man on the other end was reading her messages. One day, to her surprise, she received a reply, leaving her stunned. A snapshot of her text message that day was shared by Reddit’s popular group r/MadeMeSmile.
The Arkansas woman, Patterson, had been texting her dad every day since he died in 2015. It was his fourth death anniversary and she texted him an emoji-filled message as usual. In the heartbreakingly sweet message, she related the events of her life, also telling him about her latest achievements including “graduating from college” and “beating cancer.”
“Hey Dad, it’s me. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day again,” she wrote, and continued, “It's been 4 years since I lost you and not a day goes by that I don't miss you. A lot has happened in that short time, but I know that you know since I tell you all the time.” She went on to say that she had fallen in love and got her heart broken. “You would have killed him,” she quipped, “but I picked my head up and became even a stronger woman. I lost all my friends and hit rock bottom, but I found someone who came into my life and saved me.”
She added that she was afraid of marriage because she’d have to walk the aisle alone, and her dad wouldn’t be there to tell her ‘everything will be okay.’ She said if he were alive, he’d be so proud of the woman she had become. Patterson wrapped up the letter with a note that is a tearjerker, “I just wanted to say that I love you and I really miss you!”
What made this message extra special, apart from its emotion, was that this time, she received a reply. “Hi sweetheart, I am not your father, but I have been getting all your messages for the past 4 years,” the stranger wrote, adding that he looks forward to her morning messages and nightly updates. He said his name was Brad and he lost his daughter in a car wreck in August 2014. “Your messages have kept me alive,” he said.
He said he had wanted to text her back for years, but he didn’t want to break her heart. He even appreciated and inspired her saying that she was an “extraordinary woman” and he wished that his daughter would have become the woman she was. Calling her “angel,” Brad assured her, “Everything will be okay.” He said he was very proud of her and he’d look forward to her messages the following day.
Patterson had first posted the picture of the text messages on Facebook, but these posts have been deleted since then. But as per UK media outlet Metro, she wrote in a post that Jason was not her biological father, but despite that, he never missed a school dance, prom, or her games. “I’ve cried with him, told him everything, and even became very independent because he took the time to love me and show me what happiness looks like. So yes, Jason was my father but he was a role model for many kids in our town.” The story took off from there. In addition to top media outlets, it was shared on Reddit, where it was upvoted by 1.7k people.
In December 2019, Patterson appeared as a guest on DoctorOz talk show. Speaking to the show’s host Mehmet Oz, she revealed that she was feeling already healed from her grief. She felt she was done with it and was about to delete the messages when she saw the “bubbles pop up” on her phone. When she read Brad’s message, she thought, “Am I crazy?”
Something didn’t feel right. She felt as if "someone was playing a joke on her.” She sat there for a long time, then took a screenshot of the texts, and put it on her Facebook page. She says that "she can now let her father rest,” going by the episode’s caption.
Share on Facebook
