Paul Walker did not have the chance to witness his daughter, Meadow Walker, grow into the woman she is today. However, his family believes he would be immensely proud of her in the years following his tragic passing on November 30, 2013.

“That was his pride and joy, his baby girl,” Paul’s younger brother Cody Walker exclusively shared with E! News in anticipation of what would have been the actor’s 50th birthday in 2023. “He loved her to death; he only wanted what was best for her.”

Meadow, whom Paul had with ex Rebecca Soteros, was just 14 when her father passed away, and there was hardly a remembrance of the Fast and Furious franchise star that did not highlight how much he cherished his only child.

“He loved being a dad,” Cody recalled at FuelFest Mid-Atlantic in Millville, N.J., a stop on the motorsports tour he co-founded to support Reach Out Worldwide, the humanitarian aid organization Paul established in 2010. “He felt a lot of guilt for not always being there.”

This means that any concerns Paul had about Hollywood were rooted in the fact that acting often took him away from his most important role.