When Jillian Daugherty married Ryan on June 27, 2015, her father, Cincinnati sports columnist Paul Daugherty, wrote her a letter about the life she had built. He remembered worrying about whether she would find close friends. By her wedding day, he had years of memories that answered that question. Paul Daugherty’s letter · The Independent’s wedding coverage
A relationship that began on a soccer field
Jillian, who has Down syndrome, met Ryan through a soccer team for teenagers with disabilities. They had known each other for about a decade by the time they married. In an interview with ABC News, Daugherty described Ryan as his daughter’s longtime sweetheart. ABC News interview
What her father remembered
The letter looked back on Jillian’s school years, her friendships and her time in college. Daugherty recalled his own fears about whether others would give her the chance to belong. Writing to her as an adult about to marry, he could describe the relationships she had formed and the choices she had made for herself. Paul Daugherty’s letter
The letter reached a wider audience later that summer. Its most personal moments came from the difference between what a father once worried about and what his daughter had actually done. The wedding was a chance for him to celebrate Jillian and Ryan after years of knowing them as a couple. ABC News coverage