It’s a sign of healthy media literacy to question if viral posts are legit, or if they’re simply works of internet art cooked up in the brain of a teen who’s much, much better at this than you are. So it only makes sense that when yet another “I texted my dead parent for years and now I finally received a response” story goes OFF, you take it with a grain of salt.
Asking for the OP’s medical records, however? Probably a sign you’ve tin foiled a bit too hard.
It’s the situation American woman Chastity Patterson found herself in last week, after her Facebook post about texting her dead dad was shared hundreds of thousands of times.
If you haven’t seen the headline-making good news story, it goes something like this: Chastity texts her dead dad’s number every day for four years, finally receives a reply from a man called ‘Brad’ who reveals his own daughter died in a car accident, and it’s so sickeningly heartwarming that more than 270,000 people share it.
“Hi sweetheart, I am not your father, but I have been getting all your messages for the past four years,” the reply text says.
“I look forward to your morning messages and your nightly updates. My name is Brad and I lost my daughter in a car wreck August 2014 and your messages have kept me alive.”
Brad goes on to tell Chastity that she is “an extraordinary woman” and the type of person he wishes his daughter had become.
“Thank you for your everyday updates, you remind me that there is a God and it wasn’t his fault that my little girl is gone.”
After Chastity’s post went viral, she was forced to clarify a few things – namely, that she didn’t make up the story for clout.
“No, I do not know Brad (or if that’s his real name),” she said in a second Facebook post.
“Yes, I did know when I sent a text it said delivered. No, I don’t send updates about everything, it was a simple good morning or telling him that I made it through my day. I could not tell you how long he has truly been receiving my messages and I don’t care, I’m just happy he did.”
She also clarified that her dad, Jason, was not her biological father but that “blood could not make him any closer”, also declining demands she release her health records to ‘prove’ the story.
“You people need better things to do,” she said.
Absolutely fair enough, tbqh. Even if this story turns out to be fake, it does include this important message about grief:
“If you take anything from this, know that everyone will experience pain and everyone will lose someone they love,” Chastity said.
“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.”
