I recall life a decade or so ago. I was in-between relationships at the time and met a new girl I knew from an online forum. We’d spoken for months, and I knew what I was getting into, but nothing prepared me for life ahead of me.
My girlfriend, who was 26 at the time, had a 9-year-old daughter who was abused by two different people and had a deadbeat father. She had all kinds of emotional problems but was a great kid. I stayed with the girl for 6 years longer than I should have because her daughter was like my daughter.
The poor kid received every type of counseling there as for years, and I wanted to make sure she would recover from her trauma. Fast forward a few years, and she’s 16 and stable – they moved to another state, but we keep in touch.
On Father’s Day, she e-mailed me and told me that after all the counseling and medications that reason she was able to trust men again was because of me. I never felt like a more worthwhile person than that moment, but I’ve never shared it with anyone before.
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