I oft times hear that I’m a good dad. I suppose their sentiments are predicated on the fact that I’ve been raising my daughter, Haelee as a single parent since she was a toddler. Haelee and I have been on enumerate adventures since I was given custody of her in the summer of 2010. Some of those adventures included peaks and some of those included valleys. I did all that I could to show her that I love(d) her throughout each season through my actions. I failed as a parent however because I didn’t always use my words. What I mean in that sense is that I didn’t always tell her how much of a gift she is to my life, how beautiful she is to me, how smart she is, etc. I didn’t say those things because I thought that she already knew. Well she came to me one day and gave it to me on the chin in telling me that she didn’t know how I felt because I never told her. In other words, I was a failure at words of affirmation.
I took that as a call to action in writing a book that was filled with short love letters to her. Those love letters were tied to various seasons of our lives thus creating a love story. I published, Dear Daughter: A Love Story not only for her but for daughters across the world. I delayed the project for some time however because I was dealing with imposter syndrome. You see while I’ve published two books previously, I never considered myself an author. I consider myself a writer instead. Not only that but while I’ve served as an editor for a children’s book previously, I’ve never actually written one myself. Notwithstanding it gives me so much joy that my daughter more or less told me that it wasn’t too late for me to say that I’m sorry for not using my words sooner. But not only but daughters and some sons have said that they appreciate the love that I put on display through publication of Dear Daughter. Thank you for seeing and hearing what I’m trying to do for both her and the world.
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