Bride Shares Text Message Her Dad Sent the Day After Her Wedding (Exclusive)

Dana Jesscari was reminded the day after her wedding that a different man loved her first. 

Not even 24 hours after Jesscari said “I do,” she opened up her phone to an unexpected message from her father, reminding her that he was always just one call away.

The New Jersey native, 28, tells PEOPLE that she “wasn’t surprised” to get the text because her dad has “always been somebody to do everything that he said — pick me up and be there for me.”

“I felt grateful. I had just gotten married the day before, and it was kind of that thing of like: you’re still my baby. You’re still my daughter. Even though [you’re] kind of entering this new stage of your life, and I’m still there for you,” she shares. “I felt happy and I was reassured.” 

In a now-viral TikTok video, Jesscari shared a screenshot of her dad’s message, which read, “Remember not to be shy about calling me if you need me to pick you up at the train station or anything else. First ask your husband and if he can’t, ask me. OK?” 

In the caption, she noted that she was going to have the message “framed one day” as a constant reminder that he is “always only a call away.”

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Jesscari says that as she’s gotten older, her relationship with her dad has only grown stronger. They talk almost every day, about topics ranging from history to their day-to-day plans and their shared love of traveling.

“I miss my parents more now than I thought I would. So we’re close. We try to connect often,” Jesscari shares. 

After the video went viral, amassing 6.5 million views, Jesscari says the comment section was full of people reflecting on their own relationships with their parents, both good and bad. Some people said they wished they had a better relationship with their dads, but didn’t know where to start.

While Jesscari knows familial relationships can be complex, she encourages people not to be “afraid to reach out to them for help.” 

“Don’t have any regrets, and especially don’t wait for after you get married to pursue more of a friendship,” she says. “Try to pursue that friendship versus parent to child and to have them be needed in your life.”

“They want to feel needed because every time I need something, I feel like my parents’ eyes light up ’cause they’re like, ‘Oh, I get to be involved!’” she adds.