Back in 2015, a single dad had penned an emotional letter online after his partner left him and their 1-month-old baby.
Richard Johnson, 21 at that time, welcomed his daughter Persephone in January 2015.
However, things escalated quickly when the mother left Richard and ran away with baby Persephone to California, 1 month after she gave birth to their daughter.
The mom quickly changed her mind and threatened Richard that she will put Persephone up for adoption if he didn’t come and get the baby.
Richard then immediately boarded a plane and brought his daughter home with him — but soon enough, the stinging reality set in.
After the mother’s unexpected departure, which Richard said was the result of postpartum depression, he realized how unprepared he was to raise a child by himself.
Alone, and terrified, Richard saw a Facebook group for fathers called “Life of Dad”.
Through the group, Richard knew that he’s not alone, that there were other men out there like him, and that it was possible to thrive as a young, single father.
A few months later, Richard has done a complete, 180-degree turnaround, saving his daughter’s life. He shared his story with the “Life of Dad” Facebook page in November 2015.
His story reads:
My name is Richard Johnson, and I’m 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 part.
In the first few weeks of it being just her and me, I stumbled upon your page by accident.
I was so nervous and scared about being a father in general, but now I was a single father and had to fulfill two roles. I wasn’t sure I could do it.
I had read every ‘new parent’ book I could find and clocked in over 1,000 hours in YouTube videos from everything to braiding hair and painting nails to theories on how to deal with common parental issues
I then started to watch your page more closely and saw that there were other fathers out there who were in similar predicaments as me.
The page started to turn into a major confidence booster and really helped me through all of this.
We’re both very happy now and continue to grow together every day.
She’s now 10 months, and I now get asked by my friends for parenting advice constantly.
We’ve come a long way, my daughter and me, and we definitely owe part of that to this page and the people within it.
So from both of us, we wanted to thank you.
But that’s not where Richard and baby Persephone’s story ends.
Richard’s letter post went viral, and the father and daughter duo gained followers.
In 2017, their followers started to notice a woman popping up in Richard’s Facebook feed, wondering if she was Persephone’s mother.
In April 2017, Richard did confirm that he and Persephone’s mom had reunited. The heartwarming post reads:
This lovely lady is my girlfriend and Persephone[‘s] wonderful and gorgeous Mother Jennifer.
We had met at the mall while I pathetically attempted to catch her attention by asking if she could help me pick out clothes for Persephone.
I explained that I wasn’t sure what actually matched and need some pointers considering my own closet had consisted of nothing but black, faded black, and dark black clothes.
We had talked for months before I allowed her to meet Persephone. Upon meeting her Persephone had made the choice that this would be her mommy.
Persephone wasn’t a fan of women and would normally shun away from them. She had only known her bearded father and his friends.
The first time they had met Persephone had cried to be held by Jennifer.
Fast forward to today, Jennifer has helped us become the family we desperately wanted to be. Persephone knows no other woman other than her as mommy.
When she cries out for Mommy it is Jennifer that she requests.
She has taken on a part of Jennifer’s personality. It is truly amazing to see the two of them bound so strongly.
Jennifer’s family has also taken the spot of grandparents, cousins, great grandparents, etc.
They have shown her so much love and acceptance I can not begin to explain.