The letter from a single father that has moved the entire world 2026

We often talk about single mothers and the role they play and forget about single fathers, who also have the same role along with the addition of social stigmas.

Richard Johnson found himself alone with his daughter Persephone when shortly after she was born her partner abandoned them both. However, he did not let this new situation get the better of him and he got to work looking for information in all the sources he could think of: books, the Internet, social networks... And it was in these last two that he found the ally that made him feel strong: Life of Dad, a web portal with its corresponding social networks.

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Life of Dad defines themselves as a global community of fathers providing entertainment, humor and information. It contains blogs, videos and interviews as well as connecting people in the best experience a man will ever know, the experience of being a dad. And it is to them that he sent the letter that has gone viral these days and that in Being Parents we show you translated:

“Life of Dad,

My name is Richard Johnson and I am a single father to a beautiful little girl named Persephone. Her mother left about a month after she was born. We still don't know exactly why, but we suspect postpartum depression played a big part. In the first few weeks of it being just her and I, I came across this page by accident. I was nervous and scared about being a dad in general, but now that I was a single dad and had to fulfill both roles I wasn't sure I could pull it off.

I had read every “new parent” book I could find and had watched over 1,000 hours on YouTube from everything about braiding hair and painting nails to theories on how to deal with common parenting problems. And then I started digging deeper into your page and saw that there were other parents who were in the same predicament I was in. The page started to become a major confidence booster and really helped me through this whole situation.

I always look forward to seeing the photos and reading the stories of some of the amazing parents in this community. You have helped me, my daughter and me, in these difficult times.

We are both very happy now and continue to grow together every day. She is now 10 months old and now my friends constantly ask me for parenting advice. We've come a long way, my daughter and I, and we definitely owe a part of it to this page and the people on it. So on behalf of both of us, we wanted to thank you.

Sincerely, Persephone & Richard Johnson.”

Given the avalanche of likes and shares that this publication had on the social network Facebook, Richard contacted the portal again to express his shock and joy:

"I honestly don't know what to say. I've been reading all the comments and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't emotional. Sitting here writing this for you, my heart wants to jump out of my chest and the tears want to come to the surface. Thank you to each and every one of you. You can't imagine how much all these words mean to me. I constantly criticize myself on how I can be a better father and this has been just the medicine I needed."

This man, in addition to being a great father, is an understanding and good man who does not hesitate to affirm that the mother of his daughter is a good woman and that "no matter what, she is the mother of my daughter and I only wish the best for her. I hope that she can be happy and that is all that matters. It is something that I would like to instill in my daughter. Postpartum depression is something truly tragic and I would not wish it on my worst enemy."

Richard was himself a child raised by a single mother: "When my father left I was 6 years old and I didn't know if I would see or hear from him again until I was 21. So since I never had a father I was really scared of becoming one. Even more so when I had to do it alone. However, I didn't have much time to worry because that precious little girl needed a father who could be her rock and love her dearly. In my mind there was no other option.

There have been very hard moments when I didn't know if I could last another day. I spent more than a few nights holding my little girl when she slept and crying because I wasn't sure if I was going to be a good enough father to her. One night in particular was when she started crawling, she came to me, put her little hand on my cheek and looked me in the eyes. I took it as a “come on daddy, we have a lot to do.” So I told him there would be no more tears for either of us and that we would fight to be happy.”

This father has moved us with the depth of his strength to become the best father he knows for his little girl and we, like any other father, feel reflected in his words.

If you want to see the original posts in English you will find them in the following links:

Letter one

Letter two