Adley Stump's dad died this week. While I would normally follow this announcement with a "my condolences" or some other genuine, albeit generic, sentiment for such a sad occasion, Adley's Twitter this week seemed to indicate that the singer preferred to celebrate her father's life and the man he was rather than sitting around feeling sorry for herself.
"We lost my dad this morning. Dad, I know you're finally in peace. And in a much better world. I love you so much. And I'll miss you forever," she tweeted on February 3.
She later tweeted: Thankful to my flight attendants for bringing me excessive amounts of peanuts… Just trying to get home.
Since then, Adley's Twitter has been filled with photos of her dad, Gregory, and messages of how much she loved him and how much she was going to miss him. It's been bittersweet to follow; feeling almost that you should look away out of respect, but knowing that in some way that you were maybe helping her grief by letting her introduce you, a stranger, to someone she loved very much.
Today, Adley posted the above picture to Twitter with a smiley face. She said: Pistol Pete made a special appearance at the funeral. It felt great to surprise the service and make my dad laugh :)
Pistol Pete is the mascot for her father's Alma mater, Oklahoma State University. The fact that Adley's smiling in the picture during what is probably one of the hardest days of her life makes me smile.
Thank you, Adley, for sharing your grief and your memories with us strangers. I'm truly in awe of you and your strength at this moment and if your father was smiling when the above picture was taken, I have a feeling it wasn't the mascot making him do so.
