This is what a good father looks like.
Raising a daughter alone hasn’t been an easy task for 21-year-old Richard Johnson, but it’s clear his mature attitude and love for the baby Persephone is getting him through just fine.
In a moving letter posted online this week, Las Vegas man Johnson explained that the baby’s mother left when the child was just a month old. Johnson still isn’t sure why, but he suspects “post-partum depression played a part.”
At first, Johnson was terrified that he would fail his daughter.
“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,” he wrote in an open letter posted to Facebook page Life of Dad.
“I spent more then a few nights holding my little girl as she slept weeping because I wasn’t sure I was going to be a good enough father for her.”
But he said he had drawn strength from parenting books and online communities of other fathers.
“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,” he wrote.
“We’re both very happy now and continue to grow together everyday. 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.”
The Facebook post has gone viral this week, having already attracted more than 93,000 likes.
In a follow-up post, the young man shared some words of advice for other parents facing frightening or isolating situations.
“If you ever feel like the load is too much or you’re just not good enough. Look into your amazing child’s eyes and just tell them you love them,” he said.
“You’d be amazed to see how much strength you have when someone else is counting on you and loving you more and more for what you’re doing. You’ll find strength where you thought you had none.”
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Johnson’s touching account of his journey as a single dad has drawn hundreds of responses, including advice from other fathers and words of praise from around the globe.
“Very lucky to have a father like you, little girls need their daddies,” wrote Heather Bowers.
“Richard: Have no fear, I already know you’re a super awesome dad because you took on the role as mom and dad,”Marie Simmons Theobald said.
“You’re a true superhero in your daughters eyes and I have so much respect for you,” Paula Crowell Marrero commented.
“So proud of you for stepping up….we need more dads like you,” added Lisa Davis.
We wish Richard and little Persephone all the best.
Top Comments
I know this will be is a provocative and unpopular opinion on a women's website, but here's something to ponder:
What could be the difference between a single Dad and a single Mum in most Western countries?
In most cases, the mother has had complete control over the decision to carry the baby to term, the father may (or may not) have had this thrust upon him. It's admirable in both cases for the single parent to step up, but perhaps, a sign of pretty strong rectitude, for the Dad to wear the consequences of a decision that he actually had no say in, past conception.
If a man does not want kids he can stop having sex, it's really not that hard of a situation to stop yourself from getting into. When a baby is produced its up to both the mum and dad to step up to the plate and take care of the child. Of course it's not a perfect world and unfortunately in this situation the dad is looking after the baby alone. It happens all the time and what he is doing is no doubt very hard and commendable but nothing more than any decent human being should do.
Articles about single mums have an entirely different tone to them and most of the time single mums are blamed for getting themselves in that position.
I think that your first sentence marches in lockstep with offering abstinence as birth control to Christian teenagers, which is never going to be practical. No fear or understanding of consequence, curiosity and torrential hormones prove that time and time again.
I would take responsibility for fathering a child and would look down upon those who don't, however, many teenaged boys would not and some boys' families would even encourage the father to walk away from the situation.
I'm not in the camp of blaming or hating on single mums (there are many different paths to arrive in that situation), but in the case of an unplanned pregnancy in a young and/or casual relationship the decision lies practically, morally and completely with the pregnant girl and the practicalities are; she has options. Having your life's path so completely in another's hands would be a frightening thing if you were a teenaged boy, not ready to start a family.
Also, a difference between a single dad and single mum is that the mother will often cop more criticism for the fact that she's a single mother. Something to ponder too?
It is really sad that in this day and age a single dad is something that becomes newsworthy. Sadly the reality is they don't get as much access in most cases as fathers seems to be not seen as equal in the parenting realm in general.
I say this as a mother that also shifted from a relationship with children, to single parenthood at a young age (23). I wouldnt change it for the world. From the moment you become a parent, its suprising just how much strength you can find for your children.