My Dad Married My Mom’s Sister Just Months After Her Funeral — At Their Wedding, My Brother Handed Me The Letter Mom Wrote Before She Died

A cold wave went through my chest.

Dad quickly started explaining. He said after Mom got sick, Victoria had been there for both of them. After Mom died, they leaned on each other even more. Grief had brought them closer.

What started as comfort, he said, slowly turned into love.

He told us life was too short to wait around being miserable.

So he proposed to her.

And she said yes.

The wedding was already being planned.

I didn’t know what to say.

Part of me felt angry. Another part of me felt numb. I was still trying to process losing my mother, and suddenly my father was marrying her sister.

But he looked so certain.

So convinced this was the right thing.

Eventually I told myself maybe this was just how he was coping with grief.

Maybe this was his way of surviving.

Victoria moved quickly with the wedding plans. She seemed excited, almost energized by the whole thing.

I didn’t want to be involved.

I didn’t help choose flowers. I didn’t go dress shopping with her. I didn’t attend any of the planning meetings.

The only promise I made was to show up.

For my father.