Abigail Breslin Shares 'Holiday Grief' Spending First Christmas Without Father

Actress Abigail Breslin shared how hard it was to celebrate her first Christmas without her father. Breslin's father was 78 when he passed away in February of this year from COVID-19.

After he passed, Breslin wrote a sweet Instagram tribute to her father, saying, “It was COVID-19 that cut my sweet daddy’s life too short.”

“Mostly I want to remember my dad for who he was,” she wrote. “My dad was a hilarious, boisterous, tenacious, rebellious, intelligent, sweet, incredible human being. He loved life. He loved his family. He loved the simple things...”

“He loved dogs and cats and all animals and he especially loved hearing funny stories about my pets in particular,” she continued.

“And we loved him,” she concluded. “And we always will. I miss you daddy. I can’t wait to see you again. I won’t ever, ever, ever forget you.”

"Merry Christmas Eve everyone!" Breslin wrote in an Instagram message.

"I'm not gonna lie," she continued. "This one is a weird one for me. My first holiday season sans my dada."

"I love the holiday season and I am so thankful I get to spend it with my mom, my brothers, my friends and my boyfriend... I'm truly blessed," she added.

"But it's hard to know I can't call my daddy and wish him a merry Christmas or send him a gift certificate to a good steakhouse (lol)."

"Some days are harder than others..." she admitted. "Grief is a tricky little monster. I wish there was an expiration date to missing someone... but I had almost 25 great years of having an awesome dad and I feel as though I know what he'd be saying right now."

She continued, "I think it's be somewhere along the lines of 'why ya crying kid? I'm fiiiiiiiine. Don't worry about me! Love you, pretty.'"

"To anyone who is missing someone this holiday seaso... I see you, I hear you and you're not alone," she added.

She concluded her message by saying, "Nonetheless, I'm going to heavily cherish those who are here and hug them harder than ever. Merry christmas to all... and to all, a good night."

Breslin had captioned the post “happy holidays/ holiday-grief season.”

“Thank you, beautiful woman,” wrote Beth Grant. “This means a lot to me for you and for me. A great reminder to cherish my loved ones with us now. I love your affirmation that the heart can hold both. Big hug to you, your mom and family. Much love always and forever.”

“Love you kid…” wrote Camilla Cleese. “Holidays are rough, especially the first year. Please know I’m always here if you want to hear darkly inappropriate jokes.”

“Wow I could have written this..” said one fan. “My dad past 3 days ago and tomorrow we have to do Christmas without him and it feels so wrong but he would want me to not cry and to enjoy my day as much as I possibly can. I hope that this pain will ease… sending love to you and your family from a family who are going through the same! We are not alone!”