Make-up artist Bonnie Ryan has taken to her Instagram stories to thank her followers for the huge amount of messages she has received since talking about dealing with the loss of her dad Gerry Ryan.
The 29-year-old spoke on Georgie Crawford’s podcast The Good Glow and opened up about her dad’s death and how she's dealt with grief as she got older.
On her Instagram stories, Bonnie revealed she was glad that she spoke about the difficult topic on the podcast as it seemed to help other people. “I think it’s a good thing to talk about and I never really talk about it ever and I think on the podcast was probably like one of the most honest and open I’ve been about it”.
She thanked her fans for all the messages they’ve been sending her and is still trying to get through them. “I’ve had so many messages from people saying that they have lost a parent too and that they really enjoyed listening to the podcast”.
Bonnie decided to speak on the podcast in hopes of helping other people deal with grief and to answer any questions people had because when she lost her dad, she didn’t know anybody online who had gone through a similar experience. “When I think back on when my dad died I was only 17 and there wasn’t Instagram so anything or I didn’t follow anybody or have someone to look at and be like 'Ok they’ve gone through this, I’m going through a similar situation'”.
She continued, “On this topic I’ve been quite guarded on it and I think that was just for myself. I’m no expert. I'm just somebody who is or has gone through it and I suppose still going through it”.
When speaking to Georgie on the podcast, Ryan said, “There was something so magic about him, everybody just felt like ‘Gerry’s my best friend’".
“I feel so special that that’s who my dad was. I got to have him for 17 whole wonderful years and to me he was just magic”.
When explaining whether she thought it gets easier to deal with grief Bonnie revealed, “I think it does and it doesn’t in the sense that you don’t always wake up and have that feeling in the pit of your stomach, that shock of 'Oh my god my dad’s not here'”.
Bonnie went on to say that she’s grateful he’s not the first thing on her mind when she wakes up as it was just too painful.
The blogger spoke about her family also. “I have a one-year-old nephew, I’m like ‘He’d be the best grandad’. There are times that it is really hard and I miss him a lot but you can be very happy in life and I’m just grateful I had him”.
When thinking back to her wedding day, which took place in May of this year, Bonnie believes her dad was with her on her big day. “I know he saw me get married, there’s just no doubt about it in my mind. He’s in my siblings. I can feel him all the time”.
The radio presenter Gerry Ryan tragically passed away suddenly and died of a heart attack in April 2010.
