There is no grief quite like what a child who loses a parent experiences.

And for an 11-year-old, it’s especially difficult when there is a lifetime of memories that will be made without that parent.

But when Philip Hargreaves, 53, realized he only had 6 months to live after a devastating diagnosis of esophageal cancer he sat out to make sure his daughter would have his love and support for each big moment of her life by writing 9 letters for her – including one for her wedding day.

Freya Rosati was just 11 when Philip passed away. Freya said that she was a “daddy’s girl” and did everything with her father before he died.

He would take her to dance classes, and they would play games and watch movies together. Freya said if her mom ever said ‘no’, it was a guarantee her dad would tell her ‘yes’.

But in early 2002, Philip, a British pub owner, began to have indigestion and a slight stomach ache. After seeing a doctor, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only six months to live.

“My dad, bless him, would moan a lot if he got ill – even with a cold,” Freya said, smiling. “(But) what’s striking is, once he got seriously ill, he never complained.”

He was a proper warrior – my big hero.”

After Philip died, the family struggled to find a new normal. Freya struggled with panic attacks, and the family

Freya developed panic attacks throughout her teenage years, and Philip’s presence was missed throughout the family.

“It was very, very tough,” Freya, 32, said. “We even had to move … because our peaceful, quiet family life became way too quiet without dad.”

Life went on for the family, but big events like her 18th birthday and introducing her fiance, Michael, to the family were “bittersweet”.

Philip Hargreaves wrote 9 letters to his daughter, Freya, when he learned he had only months to live. Photo courtesy of Freya Rosati

But Philip had written nine cards for Freya – eight for her birthdays and the final one for her wedding day. The cards had helped ease the loss of her father somewhat.

On Freya’s wedding day, her mom read the final card to the wedding guests in place of what would have been Philip’s father-of-the-bride speech.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

Freya with her mom, Theresa, on her wedding day. Photo courtesy of Freya Rosati

“I wish I could be standing next to you, the proudest dad in the world, to walk you down the aisle to the man you love, and to the next chapter in your life,” her father had written. 

Today is your day, enjoy everything about it. Laugh and cry. Be happy and confident.”

Freya said, “It was such a sad moment – but so important to me that the card was read out. Even looking at his handwriting in that card – it really just felt like he was there, and it was so nice.”

Freya made sure that each part of her wedding had her father’s spirit entwined throughout. She wore a necklace that he had given her as her ‘something old’. Music from his favorite place to vacation was played as she walked down the aisle. Photos of her father were placed on a memory tree – and donations to a cancer organization were asked to be made instead of guests.

But it was her dad’s final card that made everything come together in a celebration of not just her new life, but her father’s life, as well.

And his love of his daughter was on full display. “You gave me some of the proudest moments in my life with your sense of humour, intelligence, understanding and caring nature,” he wrote. “Don’t ever change. Love you forever, dad.”

Freya said that the letters were written during the final weeks of his life, when he was so weak that it was hard for him to finish them. The wedding day letter was his final one, she said.

But they mean everything to the new bride.

“My dad would’ve loved that wedding – just hearing his words, I can imagine him saying them to me.

For a look at the beautiful bride and her amazing father, watch below.

Sources: Independent | Mirror