It’s taken me decades to come to realize there was one really vital life skill my father taught me. Boundaries. Because of who he was — I needed to keep space between him & my kids. There were no lines in the sand — there were gates & walls with armed guards and attack dogs to keep him from hurting my kids the way I was hurt.

You paid the price. Likely have been paying the price for a long time. Now — it’s ok to do what you need to do for yourself. You don’t have to fall into that forgive and forget business either. That’s just bullshit written by Humans who have never had real trauma in their lives.

One day, maybe after he is dead & you understand that you will never have anything that resembles closure — you can let go. It’ll take another few decades before you see that you became the woman you are because of the man he was.

And then a few more years to love that woman.

Many blessings to you & yours, dear Angie. ❤