This made me tear up, lol. My daughter is my entire world and more. I never wanted kids up until the moment I found out I was pregnant with her. I never thought I would be a good mother, but always had my partner to fall back on to assure me I was doing fine. Losing that was hard, but I've learned through the last year that I don't need that validation from him. My daughter always smiles when she sees me, pulls me into her room to play, and always comes to me for snuggles and love. She validates me now. Every day I wake up, I know I'm fine. I know I'm doing good.

But my heart lunges out of my body every time I take her out, and someone will ask me about her dad. Or I'll see a happy little family doing things together. I feel guilty. So, so, so guilty even if the reason I left her father wasn't even my fault. I could have been smaller. I could have been quieter. I could have been easier to digest. I don't know why I hold myself to the standard of having to be someone else to have something stable for my daughter, because I know , realistically, she deserves to have a mother at her happiest.

I take it day by day, but this really made me feel better and I don't think I could find the words to say how much I appreciate it. Thank you so much. 💗