Email of the Day: I Finally Accepted I'd Never Have the Dad I Wanted

Your book “Bad Childhood, Good Life,” really had an impact on me, because I allowed myself to accept that my very verbally abusive father was just that – abusive. People told me that I should be “grateful” that I really didn’t have an abusive father, because he did not physically beat my sister and me. But the constant verbal abuse really took a toll on both of us in different ways. Your book gave me permission to acknowledge the abuse, realize that I was never going to have the father I wanted, and then to put that aside and continue down the path of a successful life.

My husband and I are always saying that there is a lot of power when you get two loving, caring generations in a family back-to-back. Our very successful friends have all had that in their lives – strong family love and support from both parents and grandparents. With that in mind, we look forward to leading that trend in our own family!

Alysia

I Finally Accepted I'd Never Have the Dad I Wanted