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Shawn Loves Toya, A Love Story Love you then Love you still

Join us in Paradise for Destination Vows Renewal Ceremony!

Mirage Resort in Punta Cana

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To Our Amazing Family & Friends!

Please join us in a wonderful tropical getaway filled with Love, Laughter and Joy. Get your passports ready? our wedding will be held at the Majestic Mirage Resort, in Punta Cana, May 27th, 2025. We are so happy that you will be attending and couldn’t be more thankful for each and every one of you.

All room reservations should be booked through our group with Destination Weddings. As this Save the Date is emailed out along with the wedding page link, we would please ask our guests to reserve their rooms within the first 30 days of receiving this email. Please keep in mind that emergencies do arise, so we highly encourage all our guests to purchase the travel insurance with your room deposit.

I will keep you all updated with more information as we get it. If you have questions please feel free to reach out to our wedding coordinator, Stephanie Parks, her contact information is at the bottom on this email. Thank you all so much!

Shawn

Toya

Enter Passcode: 05272025

You can also contact our Certified Destination Wedding Specialist, Stephanie Parks, at (503) 267-3789 or [email protected] for assistance through the booking process.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Letter to My Daddy!

I will never forget the day you left this world. September 3rd, 1989, is forever etched in my mind. My world has never been the same. I was 9 years old and didn’t know how to talk about you without breaking. I didn’t talk much about it back then. I could never express in words the amount of love I had for you and still have for you, Daddy. But here is my attempt.

I don’t have one single bad memory of you. You were Superman to me. Your long, shiny, blue car was your cape, and I wanted to fly everywhere you went. “Come on, Top. Let’s ride,” you would say to me. I remember feeling like no one loved me the way you did. I was your Valentine, and you would shower me with candy and flowers every Valentine’s Day. There was no one like you.

The day you passed; I thought my life was over. I was heartbroken. I couldn’t breathe. I no longer wanted to live; I wanted to be with you, to fly with you to the great beyond. But I knew I couldn’t go with you. Your Top had to stay on land while you flew away. I tried writing to you. I wrote you letter after letter, hoping you would somehow read them. I wrote to God asking him to return you because I needed you. I remember bargaining with God that I would be a good girl and not cause problems if he just sent you back to me. He couldn’t. Everything I did, everything I do, I think about you.

The day I graduated from basic training, I felt so proud. I looked up and said, “Daddy, I did it. I am a soldier just like you.” I prayed that you were proud of me, too. Then I got pregnant and felt ashamed. I didn’t want to let you down, but my shame went away when I told you about it. Instead, I felt an overwhelming amount of love from you, and I knew it would all be okay.

I feel you with me everywhere I go, but I miss you every day.

It hit me hard the night before Jasmine left for college. I was sitting in the middle of my Living Room floor, crying like a baby because I needed and wanted you so much right then. I wish my girls had gotten a chance to meet you.

We had so little time together, but I want you to know, Daddy, that in that short time, you showed me what love is, what it feels like, and what it looks like. Because of that lesson, I have the husband that I have now. Because of that short time, I know what to accept and what not to accept in love. Shawn Hatcher is everything you showed me to accept.

I wish you could have been here to see us get married 19 years ago. I wish you were here now seeing us renew our vows. Shawn is a good man, and you would have loved him. He shows me the same gentle, caring, unconditional love that you did, Daddy, and I am grateful you showed me what that looks like.

As I write this, Daddy, I am holding back my tears—tears of sadness because you are not here but also tears of joy that I was able to experience the type of love I received from you. I love you, Daddy, and you will forever be in my heart.

Forever your little girl. Forever your Top,