After 15 years of not seeing each other, Ruffa Gutierrez’s daughters Lorin and Venice finally got reunited with their father, Yilmaz Bektas, and she could not be happier.
On Instagram, Ruffa shared a few moments from the reunion which took place in Yilmaz’s homeland, Turkey.
“The greatest love story of all time is between a father and his daughters. A beautiful and heartwarming reunion after 15 years of being apart,” Ruffa wrote in the caption of the video she uploaded, adding the hashtags #TogetherAgain and #NewBeginnings.
The two also met their half-sister Ilknaz and got a chance to bond with her. Through an Instagram story, Lorin expressed happiness, saying, “All [three] sisters finally complete.”
Ruffa and Yilmaz got married in 2003 but announced their separation through a joint statement four years later. On February 24, 2012, their marriage was declared null and void. In February 2021, Ruffa revealed that she has been communicating with her ex-husband again for the sake of their daughters.
“Nag-uusap kami ni Yilmaz ulit and nare-realize niya that time is so precious, that we’re getting old na and he wants to spend time with the kids,” she said; adding that their daughters have been longing to be with their father, as well.
“Naiiyak sila, nami-miss nila ‘yong daddy nila,” she said. “But I think, it’s been 13 years since they last saw him, naging bato na rin sila, you know. Minsan, nandiyan ‘yong anger. Minsan, nandiyan ‘yong, ‘Okay we love him but is he really gonna come?’ Alam mo, masakit din iyan para sa mga anak ko, ha? Magaling lang sila sigurong magtago katulad ko.”
But even before the reunion, Lorin and Venice have already been calling and chatting with their father online.
“We always call each other together,” Venice said. “We do talk to our dad, like not very often but enough.”
“We usually FaceTime him. There’s a misconception po na we don’t talk to him at all and have no contact. But we are super friendly naman with our Turkish side po. We follow everyone on Instagram, we always comment on each other’s posts,” Lorin added.
The Reunion
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