We hear numerous stories of fathers leaving their wife and child behind, but have you ever heard of a wife that left her husband and child? This story, although heartbreaking, will leave a smile on your face once you hear the happy ending.
It was January of 2015 when Richard Johnson’s life changed. Richard’s daughter Persephone was born, and all seemed right in the world. Elation quickly turned to tragedy, however, when Richard’s wife ran away with Persephone to California. The reason why? Postpartum depression. In a crazy turn of events, Richard’s wife threatened to put up Persephone for adoption unless Richard immediately retrieved her.
After Richard was reunited with his daughter, he faced nothing, but uncertainty. He had never raised a child before. How could he do it as a single father? Desperate for help, Richard found it in the most unusual place — a Facebook page called Life of Dad that showcased lives of other single fathers.
With his new support group, Richard’s life has completely turned around. Recently, Richard shared his journey as a single father to Life of Dad. His story, and the response to it, is probably one of the most heartwarming things I’ve ever witnessed. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Please SHARE Richard’s heartwarming story with your friends and family.
“Life of Dad,
My name is Richard Johnson, and I’m a single father to a beautiful little girl named Persephone. Her mother left about a month after she was born. We still don’t know exactly why, but we suspect postpartum depression played a part. In the first few weeks of it being just her and me, I stumbled upon your page by accident. I was so nervous and scared about being a father in general, but now I was a single father and had to fulfill two roles. I wasn’t sure I could do it.”
“I had read every ‘new parent’ book I could find and clocked in over 1,000 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.”
“We’re both very happy now and continue to grow together every day. She’s now 10 months, and I now get asked by my friends for parenting advice constantly. We’ve come a long way, my daughter and me, and we definitely owe part of that to this page and the people within it. So from both of us, we wanted to thank you.
Sincerely,
Persephone & Richard Johnson”
