Widower Comes Home Early and Hears Daughter Talking To Her Mother Who Died Years Ago – Story of the Day

A man freaks out when he returns home early from work one day and hears his daughter talking to her mother, who died years ago. It sends a shiver down his spine until his daughter reveals something surprising.

While both parents are precious to a child, there is something about mothers that no one else in the world can match. Sometimes, just sometimes, a dad's love is not enough, and the child longs for their mother's presence.

Sadly, that is what happened to 11-year-old Kathy Brown.

Kathy's mom, Sandra, died of cancer five years ago when Kathy was a little girl of six. After that, her father, Robert, raised her on his own and closed his heart to love. Kathy was his everything, and he'd do anything for her.

But there were some things Kathy only wanted to share with Sandra. Things like how she liked a guy at school, the outfit she wanted to wear on her next birthday, and how she wanted to try the different hairstyles her classmates' moms did for their daughters.

"Do you mind if I ask who you were chatting with when I got home this afternoon? I felt like it was mommy's voice..."

"If you were here, mom, I would never leave you alone. I wouldn't go to school and I'd spend time with you," Kathy told Sandra every day before school, glancing at her photo.

Robert had watched her do it several times and felt awful for his daughter. But what could he possibly do? Kathy wasn't ready to talk to him about anything and taking her to a therapist had been pointless. She couldn't get past Sandra's death and yearned for her. Robert couldn't do much except give her space so she could heal on her own with time, which he was already doing.

One day, Robert returned home early, as his mind couldn't focus on work. He stopped by a bakery on his way and bought Kathy's favorite brownies, thinking it would cheer her up.

He didn't tell Kathy he'd be home early and decided to surprise her. She was an intelligent girl and knew how to manage things on her own, so she stayed home alone after school until he returned.

That day, Robert got home around 3:30 p.m., parked his car in the garage slowly, and approached the front door with light steps. Once inside, he gently placed his work bag on the couch, took the brownies, and started climbing the stairs to Kathy's room. But as he was halfway to her room, he stopped on the stairs.

"Who is she talking to?" he wondered as he heard voices from her room.

He approached Kathy's room and noticed the door was slightly ajar. She was wearing headphones and using her laptop.

"Perhaps that's a friend," he thought, then Kathy said, "MOM!"

"I'm doing good, mom! Wait a minute, let me take out the headphones; something's wrong with them," she continued.

A shiver ran through Robert's spine when Kathy removed the headphones and he heard Sandra's voice replying to her. "I miss you, honey! I love you so much!" he heard Sandra say.

"This has to be a dream! What's going on?" Robert composed himself so as not to appear panicked and knocked on Kathy's door. "May I come in, princess?"

"Dad?" Kathy looked at him, stunned, and closed the laptop immediately. "What are you doing here? You should be at work!"

"Oh, well..." Robert had no idea how to approach Kathy about what he'd just heard. He was scared it would irritate her and she would refuse to speak to him. But he had to know what was going on.

"I got your favorite brownies," he managed to say finally. "I thought we could spend a little time together … It's been a while, you see."

"I'm busy right now, dad! Can we talk later?"

"Ugh, yeah, sure, why not?" Robert replied, forcing a smile. "I'll just leave these here," he said as he exited the room, placing the box of brownies on her bed.

That evening, while eating dinner, Robert couldn't get the voice he heard Kathy talking to out of his head. He was sure it was Sandra's voice. How was that even possible? What was Kathy hiding from him?

"So, honey," he said gently. "Do you mind if I ask who you were chatting with when I got home this afternoon? I felt like it was mommy's voice..."

"You heard everything?" Kathy's eyes were wide open in shock. "Dad, that's invading my privacy! How could you do that?"

"No, sweetie, I didn't do it intentionally … I - I just wanted to surprise you with the brownies, but I heard you talking, and I didn't want to interrupt you, so I waited outside for a while. I was so emotional when I heard your mom's voice … I," he paused. "I miss her a lot too!"

"You miss her?"

"Of course, I do. Nobody can ever take your mom's place…."

As Robert said that, Kathy looked at him, her eyes welling up. "Then why did you act as if everything was fine with you all these years? You never mentioned you missed her!"

"Because," he said, "I didn't want to show you how much pain I was in. Plus, doing that would only make your grief more permanent. I wanted you to be able to move on without her so that you could heal faster from her loss, and…" Before he could finish, Kathy sprang to her feet and hugged him.

"Why didn't you tell me this before, dad? I thought I was the only one who missed her … I want to show you something … Let's go to my room! Come on," Kathy held Robert's hand and took him to her room. There, she showed him an old video of Sandra on her laptop.

She explained that she used an online video editing software and adjusted Sandra's dialogues in a way that seemed like she was talking to her in real-time. She did that so she could feel Sandra was around when she missed her.

"Oh, and I thought...." Robert was relieved to hear this. "That's pretty cool. Can I use this thing to complain to her about how arrogant her daughter is?"

"Dad! That's so mean! I AM NOT ARROGANT! No, you are not using this ever again…." Robert and Kathy burst out laughing, and he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm very sorry, Kathy. Maybe I should have been more honest with you about my feelings so you could be honest with me about yours. I'm sorry. I promise to do better."

Kathy hugged him back and whispered, "It's okay, dad! I'm sorry for keeping things to myself and not wanting to understand you! I love you!"

"Love you too, honey … Love you so much!" Robert replied and kissed her on the forehead.

Thanks to that day, Kathy is now doing much better emotionally. She and Robert watch Sandra's video together when they miss her, and their misunderstanding has been straightened out to a considerable extent.

Robert certainly has had difficulty creating different hairstyles for Kathy since she told him about it, but things are much better and happier for the dad-daughter duo.

What can we learn from this story?

• A parent's support can mean a lot to a child, especially when they are grieving the loss of a loved one. Robert took care of every little thing so that Kathy could heal from her loss. Finally, his efforts paid off, and the misconceptions between him and Kathy were cleared up, leading to their bond becoming stronger and Kathy making a lot of progress on the emotional front.
• Giving your child space may not always be the best way to help them cope with difficult situations. In Robert's case, if he had told Kathy how he felt about losing Sandra, things would have been resolved much sooner, and they could have gotten over Sandra's loss together. Giving Kathy space drove them apart rather than made things better.

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