Beyond the Gates Star Shared Her Heartbreakingly Beautiful Father’s Day Moment With a Message ‘To Anyone Who Is Hurting Today’

Sometimes, traditions can mean everything to folks, especially when dealing with family, holidays and loss. For the past 18 years, all three of those things have been entwined together for Beyond the Gates’ Jen Jacob (Ashley). “My sister lost her seven year battle to cancer on Father’s Day weekend in 2007,” she shared on an Instagram post. “At her funeral, I remember my dad saying that being able to do one final act for his daughter — laying her to rest — was a gift he would never wish for… but was grateful for nonetheless.”

A parent’s grief over losing their child is overwhelming, no matter when it happens, but to lose someone right around a holiday takes on extra weight. But Jacob’s family has stuck together ever since, coming together for Father’s Day every single year.

“Even through the COVID years, we found a way to be together,” she wrote. “But now, she’s on Beyond the Gates, and soap opera shooting schedules can be tough to work around. When you’re needed, you’re needed, to make sure the show keeps going five days a week, 52 weeks a year. And this year, Jacob’s dad wasn’t sure she’d be back.

But then something amazing happened and the actress got approval to take off (thanks, she says, to executive producer Julie Carruthers) and head up to Philadelphia, “and the surprise on my dad’s face was priceless.” And you can see that surprise yourself in Jacob’s video below. It’s utterly beautiful and if his joy doesn’t warm your heart, honestly, we don’t know what will!

Jacob ended her post by wishing a happy Father’s Day to all, “And to anyone who is hurting today, I’m sending you the biggest hug and love. Loss in any form you’re experiencing it…is heartbreaking. Being with the people we love while they’re here is what this life is all about.”