Alicia Keys Rebuilds Bond With Estranged Father (790 hits)
She was only two years old when Alicia’s father abandoned his family, forcing her mother, Teresa, to raise their child alone. Alicia Keys reunited with her father after years of strained ties and faint memories. The singer describes the process of healing and mending the broken bond she shares with Craig Cook.
“The process started when my [paternal] grandmother became ill,” she said. “You realize what’s important when you see a person you love dearly and you’re not going to have them for long. It was important to her. And I saw [my father's] love for her. I realized he wasn’t an evil person so I said, ‘Can we start from this point on? Can we be friends? I can start to understand you and you can start to understand me.’”
She was only two years old when Alicia’s father abandoned his family, forcing her mother, Teresa, to raise their child alone. Letting go of that past was never easy for the now married mother, but she’s learned the value of forgiving and healing.
“I would say in the process of growing up, you realize you’ve been holding on to anger,” she said. “I was angry then and am sure I had the right to be angry, but if you hold on to all this anger the only person you’re hurting is you.” Egypt, Alicia and Swizz Beatz’s two-year-old son, has somehow acted as a catalyst to redeveloping their relationship as father and daughter.
“I think something happens when you become a grandparent," says the singer about her dad. “You have a different mind-set. There’s less pressure on the relationship, so maybe it’s closer. He was with Egypt last week and he loved it.” Meanwhile, Alicia will be on tour (in the U.K.) in May for the first time since giving birth.
