Alicia Keys Shares the Letter She Wrote as a 13-Year-Old That Her Estranged Father Kept for Over 2 Decades
Most people think of stars leading charmed lives, but Alicia Keys has had her fair share of struggles. The “Girl on Fire” singer shared a letter she wrote at age 13 to her estranged father, along with her thoughts on how the pair overcame the difficulties in their relationship.
Alicia Keys’ relationship with her father
Keys’ parents are Teresa Augello, a paralegal and actor, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant. Cook left the family when Keys was two years old.
The singer has previously said she has no memory of a relationship between her parents and that Cook was not in her life. The father and daughter eventually repaired their relationship when Keys was an adult.
In a 2012 interview with the Daily Mail, Keys revealed why she chose to forgive her father for his absence throughout her childhood.
“My father and I are fine now,” she explained. “I would say in the process of growing up you realize you’ve been holding on to anger. I was angry then and am sure I had the right to be angry, but if you hold on to all this anger the only person you’re hurting is you.”
She continued, “The process started when my [paternal] grandmother became ill. You realize what’s important when you see a person you love dearly and you’re not going to have them for long. It was important to her. And I saw [my father’s] love for her. I realized he wasn’t an evil person so I said, ‘Can we start from this point on? Can we be friends? I can start to understand you and you can start to understand me.’”
Alicia Keys’ father even walked her down the aisle at her wedding
Cook even walked Keys down the aisle at her 2010 wedding to husband Swizz Beatz. The couple, who share two sons, recently celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary.
“I’m very proud of our relationship because I think a lot of people have experienced that, where they didn’t grow up with their father and maybe there’s not necessarily a strong connection there in childhood and you kind of always hold that feeling with you forever,” she told Essence.
“So I’m proud to show that different relationships can actually evolve and become something fulfilling, even if they weren’t at one time, or even if they hurt at one time. I like that we could see that evolution because it is an option.”
While Keys has forged a new relationship with her father, the singer is still open about how his absence made her feel as a child.
The letter 13-year-old Alicia Keys sent to her father
Keys shared a video that showed a letter she wrote when she was 13 years old to Cook, letting him know how she felt about their relationship.
“It saddens me that most of my heart is bitter towards you,” a portion of the letter read. “It’s only that little part that feels sad that’s not bitter. I don’t want the phone calls. I don’t want the letters. I don’t want the fake acts you pull to try and make me think you care. I don’t want anything.”
The caption of her post read, “In the early part of my teens I wrote this letter to my father, Craig. I wanted nothing to do with him. My words came from a place of vulnerability and longing. At the time it hurt so much to experience what felt like empty promises. I swore I didn’t care, but I did and it affected me deeply. I finally had enough and wrote those words.”
“It’s CRAZY that he kept this letter after all these years,” she continued. “I was so shocked when he first showed me. It was tucked away in a shoe box full of memories. I’m glad he and I can look back at it now as a sign of how far we’ve come.”
