Lydia Tett Olet, a Kenyan woman based in the United Kingdom, is mourning the death of her father, Gilbert Olet, after he passed away shortly following her wedding.
Lydia announced the loss on Facebook on Saturday, October 10, 2026, sharing a moving tribute alongside a throwback video that has resonated deeply with many followers online.
In her post, Lydia described feeling both grateful and heartbroken at the same time.
She expressed relief that God had kept her father alive long enough to attend her wedding ceremony and offer his blessings to the newlyweds, but confessed that she never imagined that occasion would be the last time she would see him.
Did Lydia’s dad attend her wedding?
“I am so grateful to God that He kept you safe to witness our wedding and gave us your blessings,” Lydia wrote in her post. “Never thought it was the last time we were seeing you.”
Her words captured the particular ache of a farewell that nobody realised was a farewell, the kind of loss that lands heaviest on those who were far from home.
Leaning on her faith to make sense of the grief, Lydia acknowledged the pain while surrendering to a belief larger than it.
Lydia hopes to meet her dad again
“We loved you, but God loved you more,” she wrote before signing off with the phrase that anchored her tribute: “It can only be God.”
Addressing her father directly in the closing lines of her tribute, Lydia made clear that she views the separation as temporary rather than final.
“Goodbye Mr Gilbert Olet, my beloved Dad, it’s just for now, until we meet again,” she wrote. “Rest in paradise.”
Lydia shares video footage capturing memories of her father
Alongside her written tribute, Lydia shared video footage capturing memories of her father, offering those who knew him a chance to remember him as he was.
The post drew an outpouring of condolences from her online community, with many touched by the timing of the loss so close to what should have been one of the happiest seasons of her life.
For Kenyans living abroad, moments like these carry a particular weight. Distance already makes family ties harder to maintain, and losing a parent while far from home adds layers of grief that those close by rarely have to navigate alone.
