Dealing with the death of a loved one is the hardest kind of pain and struggle one has to go through. Although we all move on and get back to our daily routine, the ones we have lost are always in our hearts. Some of us pray for them every day, some of us cook what they loved to eat. Some of us often talk to their photographs. 

23-year-old Chastity Patterson from America has been texting her father’s old phone number ever since he died. 

Chastity lost her father four years ago, and ever since, she has made sure to message her father’s phone number with her life updates. But of course, she never expected a reply. 

On the fourth anniversary of her father Jason Ligons’ death, she sent him a number a long, emotional message. “Tomorrow is going to be a tough day again! It’s been four years since I lost you and not a day goes by that I don’t miss you,” she wrote. 

“I just wanted to say that I love you and I do miss you!” she added in the end.

To her utmost surprise, she received a reply. “Hi sweetheart, I am not your father, but I have been getting all your messages for the past four years,” the message read. “My name is Brad, and I lost my daughter in a car wreck August 2014 and your messages have kept me alive. When you text me, I know it’s a message from God.”

Brad added, “I have wanted to text you back for years, but I didn’t want to break your heart.”

Sharing the screenshots of the messages on Facebook, Chastity wrote: “I text my dad every day to let him know how my day goes, for the past four years! Today was my sign that everything is okay, and I can let him rest!”

In another Facebook post, Chastity wrote: “Jason was not my “biological” father, but blood could not make him any closer! I have known him my whole life, and when I was old enough to go to the Skating Rink, I did every weekend!”

She further wrote: “If you take anything from this, know that everyone will experience pain and everyone will lose someone they love regardless if that person is a friend, parent (Nonbiological), animal, child or even a role model. No one can tell you how to cope, and no one can tell you how long, but you need to do it. For me, it was calling and texting, others write, visit the gravesite, drink or even put their picture by the bedside, so they don’t feel alone. HOWEVER, you can grieve all on you want, and no one can judge you. Because one day they will experience and wish they could take it all back. So, love the people you have now and tell them EVERYTHING, because when they are gone, it will be too late to say sorry or how you feel.”

Life surprises us in little, unexpected ways. Many of us have lost people we love, and what happened with Chastity makes us believe that someone, somewhere is listening to us and sharing our grief. 

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