Melissa Etheridge’s daughter Bailey has fond memories of her biological father.
“He was always a really cool presence in my life, even if we never meant to have that kind of parent-child relationship. He was friends with my parents, he was their donor for me. I thought it was cool growing up, knowing who he was,” Cypheridge tells PEOPLE.
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“I have always enjoyed going to see him on tour. I remember one thing that he would always do, I would tell him, ‘Oh, I’ve been playing guitar,’ and he’d take your fingers and [knock them against the table], like, ‘No, you haven’t played enough.’ "
“Because he said if you were really a guitar player, you can knock your fingers on the table and it makes a noise,” she says with a laugh.
“It’s special that I got to see some footage of him and my mom while I was working on this project. It was really special for me to be able to see that and revisit those memories, especially because he passed away earlier this year,” she continues. “It was also lovely that they dedicated that episode to him.”
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“It’s been tough, missing him, but I think that it was really cool that I got the call, that I got to do this project before that happened,” she says.
Having also endured the loss of brotherBeckettat 21in 2020 from an opioid overdose, Cypheridge says she tries to “carry the best parts of both my brother and my dad with me.”
“I try to listen for what their reaction might be in their head if I’m trying to make an important decision,” she says, noting “loss and grief are really hard.”
“I don’t think anyone has a clear-cut way to deal with it. I try to focus on the good memories, try to know that feeling that loss so deeply means that you loved something so deeply.”
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As both a daughter and a fan, Cypheridge has a favorite piece of memorabilia she calls her own.
“I have the cover ofRolling Stonethat came out two years after I was born when they announced that [he was] my father — my brother and Ishare the same father, and that was a secret until they decided to announce it, they announced it there,” she shares. “I have that magazine in my bedroom, and I just think it’s really cool to have that.”
Joking, she adds, “I mean, I peaked in ‘99. Can’t really top that.”
source: people.com
