Alicia Keys Shares Emotional Letter "Divorcing" Absent Father


Alicia Keys shares a letter she wrote to her estranged father when she was just 14.

On Thursday, Alicia Keys shared an intimate throwback to fans a letter she had written to her absent father in 1994 when she was just 14 years old. 

Keys was just 14 years old when she wrote the letter to her, at the time, estranged father Craig Cook. Reading this, Alicia proves that she’s always been gifted with her pen. The opening line her letter reads, “It saddens me that most my heart is bitter towards you. It’s only that little part that feels sad that’s not bitter.” The letter explains her frustrations with her father and his absence in her life while she was growing up.  

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I’ve been waiting for the right moment to share this excerpt with you from #MoreMyself… ⁣ ⁣ In the early part my teens I wrote this letter to my father, Craig. I wanted nothing to do with him. My words came from a place 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 memories. I’m glad he and I can look back at it now as a sign how far we’ve come ✨??⁣ ⁣ 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. ⁣ ⁣ I think it’s so powerful that relationships have their own path. And sometimes they are meant to heal…. ⁣ ⁣ Regardless though, most the time the healing comes from letting go. ⁣ ⁣ What are your thoughts?⁣ ⁣ Sending u my love, light and strength #moremyself #cheerstotheevolution ? ? ⁣ ⁣ More Myself is available now.

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She ended the letter passionately declaring, “All I want from you is to mind your 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.”

The superstar, who has since repaired her relationship with Cook, explained in the caption that her father had kept the letter since she sent it to him in 1994 in a shoebox and shared it with her. “I’m glad he and I can look back at it now as a sign how far we’ve come,” she wrote. 

The R&B songstresses’ seventh studio album is slated to be released this month after being postponed twice due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.