A high school senior who was assigned to write an essay about her parents didn’t realize that her father’s wisdom on marriage would soon capture the hearts of the internet.
Sydney Willoughby tweeted screenshots of the texts she received from her father, Lance Willoughby, in which he gushed about her mother, Kimberly Willoughby, who he called his “queen.” The tweet soon went viral, with almost 10,000 re-tweets and 20,000 likes.
Willoughby wrote that she cried when she saw her father describe the “perfect life” he’s been given by his wife throughout their 27-year marriage.
I’m writing an essay about my parents and hearing this from my dad about my mom made me cry. 27 years of marriage. pic.twitter.com/27muq07Xpz
— sydney (@sydnyy_) December 5, 2016
In the texts, Lance Willoughby wrote that early into his relationship, he was “madly in love” with Willoughby’s mother, and she was “more than a dream come true.”
But after two kids, the marriage hit a rough patch, as the couple was “not seeing enough of each other” due to the daily pressures of marriage and children: He was working days and going to school at night, while his wife was working nights.
Lance Willoughby told her daughter that her birth brought the couple back together, and he got back his “truly perfect wife.”
“Didn’t know it at the time but you changed our lives,” he wrote.
The father of three wasn’t even on Twitter when his texts were posted, but he has since joined the site, saying it was “sweet” that his daughter was moved enough to share his thoughts with the world, and that he hopes others are inspired by his family.
“I’ve learned that it’s easy to fall in love with the same person multiple times,” he told ABC News.