I suddenly lost my dad when I was 10.

The last gift he brought me was a singing teddy bear. I kept it, and 20 years later, I gave it to my son when he turned 7. We needed to add batteries to make it sing again. I opened it, and my entire body went numb when I discovered a very unexpected sight.

Next to the battery box, he had placed a small cassette. I can’t believe that I found this cassette now, 20 years after his death. I found a recorder and started to listen to it. I had chills.

It was my dad’s voice, reading me favorite stories, sharing funny memories, and offering advice for my future self. He ended by saying that, since he wouldn’t meet my children, he wanted me to pass the cassette to them so they could “meet” their granddad.

That’s exactly what I did. The cassette is now my most treasured possession, and my son loves it too. I can’t believe we never knew about it—my mom didn’t either.