Dad…
There are words I never thought
would find their way out of my mouth,
wounds I never imagined
could breathe again without bleeding.
But today…
I stand here, not as the girl you broke,
but as the woman rebuilding herself
from pieces she refused to die in.
I was young…
too young to understand why the world
suddenly felt unsafe in my own home,
why the person meant to protect me
became the storm I feared at night.
I carried that confusion
like a second skin,
a heaviness that aged my soul
long before my body grew.
For years, I walked with shadows,
silent, trembling,
learning how to smile without feeling,
how to speak without shaking,
how to breathe without remembering…
But memories have a way of echoing,
even in places you try to keep quiet.
I hated you.
Yes,
I said it.
I hated the silence you taught me,
the trust you stole,
the innocence you took
and hid behind the title “father.”
I hated how your actions
became a prison inside me,
a voice whispering
that maybe I wasn’t enough,
that maybe it was my fault.
But here is the truth:
It wasn’t.
It was never mine to carry.
Your choices were yours.
Your darkness was yours.
And I refuse,
I refuse to let it define
the woman I am becoming.
Healing was not a straight line.
It was nights of crying,
days of pretending,
years of relearning how to trust
the sound of my own heartbeat.
It was therapy, prayer, courage…
and starting the long journey
back to myself.
And today…
Today, I speak to you
not as a broken child
but as a healed survivor.
Dad…
I forgive you.
Not because you earned it,
not because it erases the pain,
not because what happened is small,
no.
I forgive you
because I deserve peace.
Because carrying your burden
was poisoning my future.
Because letting go
was the only way
to walk without chains.
Forgiveness is not friendship.
Actually, Forgiveness is not forgetting.
Forgiveness is freedom.
Mine…
not yours.
So hear me clearly:
I forgive you,
but I am not coming back
to the person I used to be.
I forgive you,
but I am choosing distance,
choosing boundaries,
choosing me.
I forgive you,
but I will never be silent again.
My voice is mine now.
My body is mine now.
My future is mine now.
Dad…
you may never understand the weight
of what you took from me,
but I pray you learn,
I pray you repent,
I pray you change,
for your sake,
not mine.
As for me,
I am rising.
I am healing.
I am living.
I am loving again
without fear.
The girl you hurt
has grown wings.
And today,
I fly free.
THE POWERFUL REALITY ABOUT ADULTHOOD SPOKENWORD
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