The family of Rick Clukey found a note from their father, who died in 2013, in his beekeeping equipment.
A daughter posted on Twitter a note discovered by her family nine years after their father died, and the internet fell in love and burst into tears.
Amy Clukey, an English professor at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, had no idea her simple post would receive more than 789,000 likes and more than 45,000 retweets.
She put up the note this week, under the headline, "Note from my dad found in his beekeeping equipment nine years after his death. He is missed."
The buzz was immediate.
"What a treasure. I hope someday I find a note from my Dad like that," wrote one woman.
"I am crying," wrote another.
Rick Clukey wrote the note in 2012, about the time doctors told him he didn't have much time left, Clukey said. Her father died at age 53 from lung cancer. He left behind six children.
Her younger brother found the message, written in pencil on a piece of paper torn from a notepad boasting the services of a lumberyard in Pennsylvania. The missive was found among the tools of his beekeeping trade.
Rick Clukey tended to his charges on a large farm, his daughter said.
"Since this is being picked up by media, I should say: my dad's name is Rick Clukey. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 53 from lung cancer. He has six children. I'm the eldest. My youngest brother Liam found the note. My sister Emily plans on beekeeping when she buys a house," she wrote on Twitter.
Though the note said he hoped his children would follow in his beekeeping shoes, the father's parting words would suit any legacy or vocation.
“Bees make more products than just honey and as a hobby, it can be a source of extra income. So do not be afraid, have courage. Good luck,” the letter ended. He signed off by writing, “Love, Dad.”
Emily Clukey responded to many of the notes sent to her on Twitter by people who were moved by the the letter. Several shared that they, too, had fathers who died young from a terminal illness.
"Losing someone to cancer is terrible," the daughter replied to one writer. "But it does allow a bit of time to think about one's legacy."
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