Alicia Keys has shared a heartbreaking letter she wrote to her absent father, Craig Cook when she was just 14 years old. Keys’ father left when she was two and she was consequently raised by her mother, Terria Joseph.
Even though the singer has since settled issues with her dad, she was so angry with him for abandoning her to the extent that she had to send him a letter in her teens – what she called “divorce papers.” The letter now features in her new book ‘More Myself’.
Sharing details of the letter in an Instagram video, the 39-year-old singer wrote: “A Letter To My Father. I’ve been waiting for the right moment to share this excerpt with you from #MoreMyself..
“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. 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.”
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“If you feel moved to share, send me a deep relationship that you have had to remove from your life, or one that has been mended, or that you want to see evolve, or are working on changing,” she wrote.
In a voiceover accompanying the video, the Fallin’ singer explained: “The letter I sent to my father began not with ‘dear dad’ or even ‘dear Craig’ but simply with the date in the upper left hand corner.”
Alicia Keys and her parents
The letter states: “It saddens me that most of my heart is bitter towards you. It’s only that little part that feels sad that’s not bitter. It’s been too long for me to avoid this any longer.
“For all the years I’ve lived, I’ve watched to take care of everybody, except me. I was your first born (as far as I know) and you treat me as if I was never born.
“All I want is for you to mind your own business. 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. That’s the only way you can make me happy.”
Keys, who is now married to hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz with two children, reconciled with her father after her paternal grandmother fell ill.
