By Michaela Gordoni
Singer Jelly Roll celebrated his daughter’s 18th birthday and graduation in an emotional Instagram post.
“When you were about four years old, I was renting a house right behind my father’s house. And when I say right behind my father’s house, I mean you could literally walk from my back door to his back door,” he wrote to his daughter, Bailey, in the post.
“One day when we were walking there, you stopped all of a sudden and said ‘dad how are we gonna get across that river?’ I was a little confused at first, and I looked back at you and in that moment, I could see the wide eyes of a little girl who is living in her beautiful imagination…I immediately said ‘the river is gonna be a problem, cause it probably has alligators in it, but I’m more worried about those tigers on the other side,’” Jelly Roll continued.
The short walk turned into two hours as they went on an imaginary adventure.
Related: Jelly Roll Shares How Addiction Impacts His Daughter’s Life
He continued, “Little did I know in that moment, your imagination was opening mine and that you were fixing to be the biggest impact on my life and the biggest part of my journey ever.”
Jelly Roll said Bailey has broken a generational curse as she prepares to do what no one in his family has done before — go to college.
“Some people were born to walk. Some people were born to run, but very few were born to fly. Now Bailee Ann was born to FLY,” he continued, adding, “I can’t wait to see the woman you end up becoming.”
Parade reported that the post brought handfuls of his followers to tears.
On May 3, Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunnie XO, celebrated Bailey’s last high school dance with a before-and-after transition video with the three of them.
Last summer, Jelly Roll shared a video of Bailey with a song he wrote for her.
In the caption he said, “The greatest gift god has ever given me was becoming a father. All these songs I hear people write about their children are really lovey-dovey, and sometimes I felt like I was the only parent in the world who was petrified of passing my generational curses onto my kids.”
“It scared the [expletive] out of me,” he continued. “And I didn’t think anyone had written a song about that, so to all the fathers out there who have worried that your trauma would affect your child I dedicate this to you today. Happy Father’s Day.”
As his daughter steps into this next stage of life, Jelly Roll’s emotional words remind us how love, effort and hope can change a family’s story.
Read Next: Jelly Roll Reflects on Fatherhood: ‘Greatest Gift God Has Ever Given Me’
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +1Share:
– Content: +3