SPOKANE, Wash. — About seven months after receiving a letter in his mailbox, Brian Loke met his daughter for the first time.
Amanda Farrell sent Loke a letter around Thanksgiving 2017 with the words, “I think I’m your daughter.”
After regularly having phone conversations with her father, Farrell arrived at the Spokane airport.
“I’m really nervous,” Loke said. “This is the daughter I’ve never met.”
A buzzer sounded off in the baggage claim area but the excitement in Loke’s voice was clear when he spotted his daughter walking down the ramp.
“Oh, that’s her,” he said as he went to embrace Farrell.
Loke handed her a bouquet of flowers and pulled her in for a hug.
“These are for me?” she said, putting her arms around him.
In front of Farrell was a stroller, holding her youngest child, Emma.
“It’s been surreal,” Loke said. “It was an absolute surprise to get a letter saying, ‘I think you’re my dad,’ to, ‘Here they are.’”
“I’ve traveled all the way from California to come visit and meet my dad for the first time,” Farrell said.
Loke’s wife, Farrell’s stepmother and others in the airport stood to watch as the two exchanged their first words in person.
“My heart was pounding,” Farrell said. “I think even the ladies in the bathroom were like, ‘Oh my gosh, are you okay?’ Man, it was just very exciting.”
It’s the beginning of a new bond.
“It’s crazy how much I look like him. The curly hair and my nose, my eyes,” Farrell said.
Amanda is staying in Spokane for a few days, during which she and her father will have their first father-daughter dance at a rodeo and go to a family barbecue.