DREADING SHOWED UP. ALYSSA WAKELEE TELLS ME SHE’S BEEN TEXTING HER DAD SINCE HE DIED IN 2021 AFTER GETTING A JOB AT THIS CAR DETAILER. SHE GAVE HIM HER USUAL UPDATE, BUT THIS TIME SHE GOT A RESPONSE AND ABOUT 30 MINUTES LATER I GOT THE CALL AND MY HEART DROPPED. ALYSSA WAKELEE WAS ADOPTED WHEN SHE WAS SEVEN. BY HER DAD, ROY. REAL OUTGOING, GOING, ALWAYS HELPING OTHERS TYPE OF GUY. SHE SAYS WHEN HE DIED IN 2021, SHE WAS LEFT FEELING A LITTLE LOST. SO SHE TURNED TO HIS OLD PHONE NUMBER. IT WAS HARD. I MEAN, IT’S STILL HARD. IT JUST FELT NICE BEING ABLE TO, LIKE, SEND HIM A MESSAGE AND LET HIM KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON WITH MY LIFE. TELL HIM THAT I MISS HIM WHEN SHE GOT A NEW JOB AS A CAR DETAILER, SHE DECIDED DAD NEEDED ANOTHER UPDATE, BUT HIS NUMBER HAD A NEW OWNER. HE WAS LIKE, HEY, I GOT YOUR MESSAGE. I WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THEY DIDN’T GET THE WRONG NUMBER. ONCE SHE EXPLAINED THE STORY, SHE OFFERED TO LEAVE HIM ALONE, SOMETHING HE REFUSED RIGHT AWAY. HE WAS LIKE, NO, LIKE, YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND KEEP TALKING TO YOUR DAD. AND IF YOU EVER NEED ANYTHING, YOU KNOW, JUST CALL AWAY. SHE HASN’T GOTTEN TO MEET THIS STRANGER OR TALK TO HIM SINCE THAT CONVERSATION. BUT NOW WHEN SHE SENDS PICTURES OF HER DAD’S DOG OR UPDATES ON HER LIFE, SHE KNOWS SOMEONE IS OUT THERE JUST WAITING FOR A CALL. IF THE TIME COMES TO MAKE SURE THAT I STAY, I TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, SWEETHEART. AND I WAS LIKE, I WILL. AND IT JUST MADE ME CRY A
News We Love: After years of texting her late dad’s phone, Oklahoma woman gets response
After her dad died in 2021, Alissa Wakley said texting his number has been a source of comfort
Updated: 6:49 AM CDT May 4, 2024
Three years of unanswered texts have turned into a new shoulder to lean on for a woman in Chandler, Oklahoma. Watch the interview in the video aboveAfter her dad died in 2021, Alissa Wakley said texting his number has been a source of comfort. When she got a new job at a car dealership, she texted him again — but this time, she got a response. “About 30 minutes later, I got the call, and my heart dropped,” Wakley said. Wakley was adopted when she was 7 by her dad, Roy. “Real outgoing. Always helping others type of guy,” Wakley said. When he died three years ago, she was left feeling lost. That’s when she turned to texting his old phone number. “It was hard. I mean, it’s still hard,” Wakley said. “It just felt nice being able to send him a message. Let him know what’s going on with my life. Tell him that I miss him.” When she got a new job as a car detailer, she decided her dad needed another update. But his number had a new owner. “He was like, ‘Hey, I got your message. Wanted to make sure you didn’t get the wrong number,'” Wakley said. Once she explained the story, she offered to leave him alone, something he immediately refused. “He was like, ‘No, you can go ahead and keep talking to your dad, and if you ever need anything, I’m just a call away,” Wakley said. She hasn’t gotten to meet this stranger or talk to him since that conversation. But now, when she sends pictures of her dad’s dog or updates on her life, she knows someone is out there, just waiting for a call if the time comes. “He said, ‘Take care of yourself, sweetheart.’ I was like, ‘I will.’ And it just made me cry a little.”
Three years of unanswered texts have turned into a new shoulder to lean on for a woman in Chandler, Oklahoma.
Watch the interview in the video above
After her dad died in 2021, Alissa Wakley said texting his number has been a source of comfort. When she got a new job at a car dealership, she texted him again — but this time, she got a response.
“About 30 minutes later, I got the call, and my heart dropped,” Wakley said.
Wakley was adopted when she was 7 by her dad, Roy.
“Real outgoing. Always helping others type of guy,” Wakley said.
When he died three years ago, she was left feeling lost. That’s when she turned to texting his old phone number.
“It was hard. I mean, it’s still hard,” Wakley said. “It just felt nice being able to send him a message. Let him know what’s going on with my life. Tell him that I miss him.”
When she got a new job as a car detailer, she decided her dad needed another update. But his number had a new owner.
“He was like, ‘Hey, I got your message. Wanted to make sure you didn’t get the wrong number,'” Wakley said.
Once she explained the story, she offered to leave him alone, something he immediately refused.
“He was like, ‘No, you can go ahead and keep talking to your dad, and if you ever need anything, I’m just a call away,” Wakley said.
She hasn’t gotten to meet this stranger or talk to him since that conversation. But now, when she sends pictures of her dad’s dog or updates on her life, she knows someone is out there, just waiting for a call if the time comes.
“He said, ‘Take care of yourself, sweetheart.’ I was like, ‘I will.’ And it just made me cry a little.”
