They say that the middle child is the “forgotten child”, but I never actually thought that it was true. First off, I am not here to tell you that I miss what we had because I don’t.

I would like to say that no one has ever hurt me like you did. This brings hurt to a whole new level. I always trusted you like nobody else. I don’t know what changed. Why wasn’t I good enough for you? From talking to you, hugging you goodbye, and telling you I love you one night to you leaving the very next morning hurt like a knife deep inside my chest. The only warning you gave was asking me the “what if we got divorced” question. That is no way to tell your children. There is no recovering from the damage that you gave me. I don’t know how you could ever hurt somebody you love like that.

My siblings don’t really understand what happened. They just know that you didn’t love our mother anymore. I was there for every single fight. For every single tear. I saw my mother cry many times since I was about 12 years old. Nobody knew that I was watching and I knew everything that was going on. Well, you told all of my siblings that you were leaving, but neglected to tell me.

Well, I didn’t talk to you for over a year. I couldn’t even look you in the eye because of what you did. All you ever did was lie to me and leave me and I have come to expect that from you. I will stop expecting you to be a great father because you never will be. It isn’t fair to me to try and fix this relationship that I didn’t break. A daddy-daughter bond is supposed to be one of the greatest relationships there is and I will never get one of those. But, all I want to say is thank you.

Thank you for leaving our daddy-daughter relationship behind. My relationship with mom has grown a lot since you left since we were the ones you left behind. We had to cope together and cry together. I hope you know that it was 100 percent my choice to not speak to you. I am also a better person for it. Thank you for showing me how to be more independent. Thank you for showing me that nobody can be trusted, even your closest friends and family.

Thank you for teaching me what true hurt feels like, so I never put anyone else through it. I have become independent all on my own and thanks to you, I know how to shut my feelings off. Thank you for showing me what most guys are like once they get bored. Thank you for showing me the person that my siblings never thought you were. But, most of all, thank you for teaching me how to forgive people who don’t deserve it.