This woman texted her dad every day since his death in 2015. Last week she got a surprise reply.

Chastity Patterson, now 23, has texted her father’s phone every day since he passed away in 2015. Last week she received a reply out of the blue. The reply came from a man she didn’t know, but who was navigating his own grieving process.

Since 2015, Patterson had been unknowingly sending her messages to a man named Brad, whose daughter had died in a car wreck in 2014. Brad hadn’t answered her for all those years because, according to his message, he didn’t want to break her heart. But, years later, his timing couldn’t have been more perfect because Patterson took it as a sign that she could finally let go.

Messages from the heart

On October 25th, Patterson sent a message to her dad which began by saying: “Hey Dad it’s ME. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day again. It’s been 4 years since I lost you and not a day goes by that I don’t miss you.”

The entire message is captured in a screenshot on her Facebook page, but the rest of it reads like a summary of her life over the years since her father’s passing. Patterson wrote that she beat cancer, finished college, fell in love and got her heart broken, but is overall doing great. “You would be so proud of the woman I’ve become,” Patterson wrote towards the end of her message.

Afterward, Brad responded to this heartfelt message: “Hi sweetheart, I am not your father but I have been getting all your messages for the past 4 years. My name is Brad and I lost my daughter in a car wreck August 2014 and your messages have kept me alive.”

The stranger wrote that he had wanted to text Patterson back for years. Now, he said, she represents an angel to him — a reminder of his daughter and that he is very proud of her.

“You are an extraordinary woman and I wish my daughter would have become the woman you are,” he wrote to Patterson.

Unbreakable ties

In a later Facebook post, Patterson explained that though her father wasn’t biological “blood could not make him any closer.”

“He never missed a school dance, prom, my games and YES he would give me long talks about my mouth and attitude. I had to introduce my boyfriends to him (If I was allowed to date) and he would act like a normal dad and give us the long talk. 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,” wrote Patterson.

The text she received back from Brad on her last message was a sign that everything is OK and Patterson could let her father rest.