In a touching letter, one young, single dad from Las Vegas opens up about the struggles he’s faced raising his 10-month old daughter, and the wonders that have kept him going.
Richard Johnson, 21, posted his letter to Life of Dad, a Facebook group for fathers, which was the first thing that gave him hope that he would be able to take care of his young daughter, Persephone. Since the letter was originally posted to the page, it has garnered worldwide attention, and received over 15,000 likes and 551 shares so far.
In the letter, Johnson explains that Persephone’s mother left a month after she was born because of suspected post-partum depression issues. In the first few weeks alone with his daughter, Johnson was terrified of the daunting task, and wasn’t sure he would be good enough.
“I had read every ‘new parent’ book I could find and clocked in over 1000 hours in YouTube videos from everything to braiding hair and painting nails to theories on how to deal with common parental issues. I then started to watch your page more closely and saw that there were other fathers out there who were in similar predicaments as me. The page started to turn into a major confidence booster and really helped me through all of this.”
Johnson explained that he and his daughter had come a long way since the beginning, and thanked the social media page for giving him examples of other great dads in similar situations.
After receiving so much positive feedback, Johnson explained in another post how surprised he was by the attention his letter is getting.
“You truly can’t understand how much everyone’s words mean to me. I am constantly criticizing myself on how I can be a better father and this was just the right medicine I needed. When I got the message from Life of Dad stating they had uploaded my message I was more than eager to see it. Never in my wildest dreams would I suspect so many of you would see it. Let alone how many of you would comment on it.
“I come from a family of divorce and was raise by a single mother. When my father left when I was 6 I didn’t know I wouldn’t see or hear from him again until I was 21. So being that I never had a father it was truly frightening to become one. Even more so when I was going to do it alone. I didn’t have time to be worried though because that beautiful little girl needed a parent who could be her rock and would love her to pieces. In my mind there was no other option.”
Johnson describes the countless nights he spent in tears as he help his little girl because he wan’t sure if he was going to make it another day. When Persephone crawled up to him one night, laid her hand on his cheek, and stared into his eyes, he decided that his days of crying were over. Instead, he would fight everyday for the both of them to be happy, and has kept true on his promise.
Were you impressed by this young dad’s dedication to being a great father? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
[Featured image credit: Richard Johnson]