Daughter saves all of dad's texts from when she was in college — and turned them into an unforgettable gift

For many daughters, their fathers are the most special people in the world. They expect no one but their dads to hold their hands as they grow up. Sports anchor Leah Doherty enlisted her husband’s help to honor her dad by creating a unique Christmas gift for him. The Ohio-based sports anchor Leah Doherty—who goes by @leahgdoherty on Instagram—recently paid a heartfelt tribute to her father, Joe Doherty, making the festive season truly memorable for him. A widely circulated video showed Joe's emotional reaction to his daughter's precious gift. The father of three was surprised to discover that Leah had been keeping a record of the messages he sent her during her college years.

Additionally, the Cleveland 19 sports anchor enlisted the help of her husband, Matt Mika, to create a memorable portrait that captured all the precious exchanges with her dad. She also selected a background image of herself and her dad walking down the aisle during her wedding earlier in 2024.

The one-minute video began with Joe unwrapping the Christmas present. “Maybe it has something to do with the wedding,” guessed Leah’s mom, sitting alongside her husband. As Joe tried to figure out what the portrait was, his daughter intervened to explain. “You would send us a text every single day of undergrad. So, I pulled all of those together,” she said. Notably, the final product that Mika created featured Leah’s aisle photo superimposed with her dad’s text messages from her graduation.

This brought tears to Joe’s eyes as he was still struggling to believe that his daughter had kept years’ worth of daily text messages. “You must be kidding,” he kept reiterating, trying to hold back his emotions. Meanwhile, Leah’s mom chimed in to lighten his mood by adding humor to the heartwarming conversation. “But they'll (the messages) stop in grad school,” she said, leaving the young couple in stitches. The video concluded with Leah informing her dad that the portrait contained all the messages, from “Happy first day of rush” to “Happy first day of freshman year.” While giving a shoutout to her “wildly talented” husband, the journalist appreciated the effort he put into learning and creating “the most special gift” for her dad. While speaking to ABC News, Leah remarked, “He would wish us a great day ... and ended every message with, ‘make good decisions, I LOVE YOU!!!’”

Additionally, Leah’s dad sent her and her two siblings different messages every morning during her college years. After seeing his daily messages once again, Leah explained, “My dad's reaction was priceless and is a moment I'll cherish forever.” Meanwhile, their video of unveiling the Christmas gift garnered widespread attention on social media, including 266k views since it was first posted on December 28, days before the New Year. Among the countless reactions to it, @erinjgirouard commented, “I would give anything to have something like this from my dad.”

“That takes thinking, loving and so much time. This is a gift from the heart,” @malindakassapakis lauded. 

You can follow Leah Doherty (@leahgdoherty) on Instagram for more lifestyle content.