To fulfill their father’s dying wish, two little girls visit his grave on his birthday to show him their adorable outfits. Near the gravestone, they find two beautifully wrapped boxes with their names and have no idea what’s waiting for them.
Isla, 6, and Madison, 8, missed their daddy, Brian. After he went to his heavenly home, they hadn’t stolen cookies and ice cream from the kitchen at night, joined forces to bother their mother, or gone shopping. Because without Daddy Brian, those things were no fun.
“You’re spoiling those girls, Brian!” Brian’s wife, Linda, used to scold him. “Why do y’all gang up against me? I know you steal from the pantry for your little angels!”
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels
“Well, I’ll spoil them for the rest of my life!” Brian would say with a wide grin. “They will always come first for me as long as I live! I’m sorry, honey, but you now have competition. But you know, I adore all my girls—including you,” and hug her.
That’s how Brian was. He would always balance out a situation. He was the perfect family man. But after he passed away, something changed. Isla and Madison became very quiet, and Linda, well, she was struggling to come to terms with his death too.
After all, her last memories of Brian had been nothing but terrible. He died before her very eyes, and she couldn’t help him. Stage four cancer, the doctors had told Linda. They started the treatment the right way and tried their best for Brian, but they lost the battle, and the terrible illness won.
Death cannot break the bonds built with love.
Brian’s health kept deteriorating, and one morning he didn’t wake up. Isla and Madison had slept beside him on the hospital bed the night before. He had asked Linda to leave the girls with him that night. Probably he sensed that was his last night with his little daughters.
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels
Brian couldn’t have sent them that. Dead people don’t send you gifts.
“Well, maybe he was missing his daughters. Go ahead and open the box, girls,” Linda said with an encouraging smile.
As the two girls unwrapped the boxes, Linda had to hide her tears. Isla was grinning with delight while Madison was crying for the first time since Brian’s death.
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels
There was a lovely pair of Mary Janes and a letter from Brian in each box.
“Shoes!” chirped Isla. “They are so pretty, mommy! My favorite color…pink!”
The letter said:
“My prettiest girls,
Some angels here in heaven are surprised to see how girls can be so pretty! They say you are the most beautiful girls God ever created. Daddy can see how beautiful you look in your outfits. But I wanted to make my girls look even prettier, so I bought these shoes for you. I hope you like them.
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Unsplash
You see, daddy is not around you, but he is always there in your heart. I know that my girls no longer eat cookies and ice creams. Don’t tell mommy, but I know she’s restocked the pantry with huge cookie boxes. I saw her doing that. Next time you visit me, I want to hear stories about how you stole them successfully behind mommy’s back. Just because daddy isn’t there does not mean we won’t trouble mommy! I want you girls to be happy and smile every day. You don’t always have to be good. I’m sure even mommy doesn’t like that.
And thank you for visiting me and wishing me a happy birthday, girls. Daddy loves you and misses you.
Sending lots of love to my lovely girls,
Brian.”
“Umm…that’s too much for me to read!” Isla complained. “Madison, what did daddy write?”
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Madison hugged Elsa tightly. “He said he is happy where he is, Isla, and he wants us to be happy too. He misses us. Thank you for everything, mom,” she added, knowing the boxes were from her. “We appreciate you bringing us here.”
Linda smiled and whispered, “I love both of you,” thanking her girls for helping her step out of the grief and giving her the strength to visit Brian.
What can we learn from this story?
- Death cannot break the bonds built with love. Brian is far away from his family in the skies, but he is always present inside their hearts.
- Mothers always put their children first. While Linda was not ready to visit Brian yet, she gathered the courage to do so after seeing how badly her girls wanted to visit their father.
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