“The ability to forgive is a gift and you never know how it will positively impact your life if you find the strength to do so.”
Not only am I a child of divorce but I’m also the daughter of a man who lived with addiction. We were really close when I was young but his addiction led to him divorcing my mom and not being the father that I needed. This caused a lot of emotional trauma that I carried with me as I grew older.
There were many times that he was supposed to spend time with me and he never showed up. This broke my heart. I didn’t understand why my dad didn’t love me anymore. I didn’t understand why my dad didn’t want to spend time with me. What did I do wrong?
Eventually, he began his journey to sobriety, developed a new relationship with me and slowly reconnected with the rest of the family. His health had been declining over the last few years, however, due to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and in December of 2018 we learned that he was in the end stages. I finally have my father back, I thought, and now he’s being taken away from me. Why? This isn’t fair?
My dad lived in Manitoba and I live in B.C., which made spending time with him more of a challenge. We did the best that we could to talk everyday and I went back to Winnipeg whenever I could, to spend time with him and make happy memories.
With this book, my sister Alana and I are sharing our story of addiction, forgiveness, and resilience to help us heal – and to help others heal as well. To forgive and be resilient. I personally find resilience and strength in sharing my story. Being able to talk to friends, family, therapists and the world has helped me cope with my dad’s illness. The ability to forgive is a gift and you never know how it will positively impact your life if you find the strength to do so.
On February 23, 2022 my father passed away and I will make sure to forever share our story and the lessons we learned.
Are you ready to share your story of RESILIENCE? You can do that HERE.