We take family photos because we want to remember the special—and sometimes, even mundane—happenings in our lives.
Graduations, birthdays, anniversaries; you name it, families surely have an album full of photos taken from these remarkable milestones.
It’s no different for this family from Belfast in Northern Ireland. When Ciarán Shannon shared photos of him and his daughter, Niamh, at different stages of her academic life, he had but one simple goal: to show the world how proud he is of her.
The three pictures show the duo holding hands while standing in the same spot outside their home.
Mr. Shannon also posted the images on Twitter as his entry to the “How it Started. How it’s going” internet trend.
So far, the heartwarming father-daughter pictures have garnered over 88.6K retweets and 948.9K likes!
The proud dad didn’t think too much of it when he shared the family photos, so he’s astounded by the level of momentum it got within days of posting.
“I’ve just been watching the numbers go up and up,” he told BBC. “It’s like watching the electric meter when the tumble dryer is on.”
The younger Shannon, 25, is now a math and science teacher. The photos were all taken by her mother, Brenda.
The first was taken on Niamh’s first day at St. Therese of Lisieux Primary School in September 1999. The second photo was on her last day in May 2013, and the most recent one was captured in the summer of 2018 during her university graduation.
“I think I was more nervous than her. I was as proud as punch,” Mr. Shannon recalled.
The pictures are framed and displayed on a wall in the family’s home. Now, these photos are being seen by the rest of the world.
Mr. Shannon, however, doesn’t mind one bit. In fact, he’s more than happy to let millions of people know how proud he is of Niamh.
“I’m flabbergasted by the reaction my pictures have got,” he said. “The good thing is that now nearly a million people know how proud I am of my daughter.”
Here are some comments left by Twitter users who were touched by the family photos.
“I don’t know either of you, but you’ve made my day. Thank you,” @DecPierce wrote.
“What a lovely slice of history! As a dad I’ve realised, like us all, that time is quicker for younger people, yet all moments are precious! A great reminder of points in time! Thank you for sharing,” @LeeMFraser commented.
“Such a beautiful record of milestones. You are very lucky to have that relationship. Thanks for putting this out there on what is quite a depressing day for me,” said @nutbrittles.
The “How It Started, How It’s Going,” trend initially involved couples sharing an old photo and another that shows their present status. However, it gradually caught on, and other people started posting pictures of themselves with their pets or showing their achievements.
While many online trends right now make little sense, this one is definitely worth following!
Another dad-and-daughter duo that went viral on Twitter is this single father named Jeff and his daughter, Carli Saville.
Jeff sent Carli photos of himself wearing different outfits to ask her for fashion advice in preparation for a date. She thought they were so cute that she shared the pictures on Twitter.
“Life with a single dad, asking for advice on date outfits. My heart,” she captioned the post.
Surprisingly, the post blew up and received hundreds and thousands of likes!
But before Carli could tell her dad about his newfound fame, he came home with sad news: he was stood up.
When her followers learned of this, Carli got many messages from people wanting to set her dad up with someone they know. She then helped him set-up his own Twitter account to see how things go.
Jeff says he’s “being asked out a lot,” but he’s “very private” about it.
On the other hand, Carli hopes that her dad finds a suitable partner, saying that he deserves it more than anyone she knows.
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