Dear father,

Thank you for leaving me. Thank you for walking out on me before you could hurt me like you hurt my mom. I used to think if i was good enough, if I was bold enough, or strong enough I could have a father. I used to think that I wasn't worthy of love. That there was something wrong with me. Thank you for proving to me instead that I am good enough, bold enough and strong enough despite you, and that I am loved more than I could ever have imagined.

Thank you for proving to me how amazing my mother is for never uttering a bad word about you, because it was her cross to bear and not mine.

Thank you for proving her right. Thank you for never thinking I was good enough for you.

Because of you I had room for a better man. Because of you when someone asks who my dad is I can say, "My grandpa". Because there is not a soul in this world or the next who can love him more than I do. Because you left me I have the best dad in the world.

Thank you for showing me what love isn't.

For so long I thought it was me. I thought I wasn't enough, and I thought I needed you. But it turns out, I really don't.

Because of you leaving us I got to be raised by a mother who wasn't beaten by you every day.

Because of you leaving us I got to live a life not locked in an apartment ironing your clothes.

Because of you leaving us I lived a life full of happiness and love.

You see, not having you to scare us, and not having you to beat us meant we could be the strong and independent women you never wanted us to be.

So thank you, for allowing me to become everything you never wanted me to be. I couldn't have done it with you.

To all the little girls out there, wishing your daddy would love you more. Don't. You are perfect, and you are strong. You will move mountains. Because you are a warrior.