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Tobi Elder Could not wait to tie the knot with his fiancé on May 9 in Hawaii and take his dream honeymoon after. The couple had originally planned to get married in Denver, but after receiving a bonus at work, Tobi decided to flush a destination celebration instead.
But just 36 hours before their flight, the relationship unexpectedly fell apart – and left Omaha, Neb. Despite the emotional battle, Tobi made a bold decision: she would take the trip alone.
“I had everything pre -booked,” she says exclusively. “At first I thought,“ I have to cancel some of this – these are things you do as a couple. “I thought I’d lose all my money.
On travel day, Tobi says she cried throughout the flight. The flights tried to comfort her with snacks and often check -in. “It was almost comical,” she says.
But everything changed the moment she landed – thanks to an unexpected message.
“My dad texted me and said, ‘Sweetheart, I come. I don’t want you to be alone,'” she reminds her 68-year-old father, Robert. “He told me,” I can’t get there until Friday, “which would have been my wedding day. So I was like,” Okay, I just have to do it for two days alone. ”
Although she couldn’t wait to see him, Tobi was worried that her dad made the long trip.
He has weight problems, diabetes and had just removed a toe. “I told him: ‘Dad, you can’t sit on a plane for so long – one of the flights is six hours!’ “She says. But Robert was undamaged. “He just said:“ I will, no matter what. ”
When he finally arrived in Hawaii, on the island of O’Ahu, Tobi went to pick him up at the airport. She couldn’t help but laugh when she saw him stimulate outside the terminal and struggled to discover her.
“I had the window down and screamed,” Dad, I’m here! “” She says.
Tobi Elder
At that moment, she pulled out her phone and started recording and planned to show him the pictures later. But she never came to it and eventually decided to put up the clip on Tiktok.
“When you are heartbroken at what would be your honeymoon in Hawaii, so your dad flies 2500 miles to hang out with you,” she wrote in the text on the screen.
Then she didn’t think much about it; She just wanted to show how sweet her dad is. But the video quickly gained traction.
Since then, more than 5.5 million times have been shown and more than 2,200 comments have taken up.
“You avoid a bullet and won in life,” read a comment.
“Dads like this are the best,” wrote another user.
Someone else chimped in: “Don’t know you but proud of you for going anyway and glad your dad went with you.”
Tobi Elder
Tobi talks to people and says that the answer online moved her deeply, especially the comments from other women.
“I’m so empathetic with everything, but the messages from women who said:” I lost my dad “or” I didn’t have a dad “made me cry,” says Tobi. “I’m so lucky to have him.”
“My dad is an entrepreneur,” she adds. “He works really hard to live – he builds tires and redevelopment of home. He really shouldn’t work anymore, but he does. He even tried to re -plan a building that week just so he could come.”
When he looks back on the trip now Tobi says her favorite moment was to visit Pearl Harbor, a place that her father had been talking about for 20 years.
“Seeing all the joy and love in his eyes, that was what removed my pain,” she says.
“I think there is always a silver feed for everything, even the painful things,” she says. “This happened to me, but I had to give my dad his dream, a Hinklista moment. And he has to be there for me. It’s invaluable. It’s something we both remember forever. He just came to help me, and I will never forget that kind of support.”