An Albuquerque, New Mexico, man has shared the story behind a note he found from his daughter after a hard-fought custody battle on Reddit.
The note described Elliott as the best dad she could "wish for in the whole world"—a powerful statement for any father, but the 39-year-old told Newsweek that he can't express how much it means to him: "It is truly impossible to articulate," he said.
In his post, Elliott shared the complex and emotional journey that led to the discovery of the journal. When his daughter was 2 years old, Elliott discovered she was not biologically his.
Elliott separated from her mother but chose to stay in his daughter's life when her biological father, who was in prison and had other children removed by Child Protective Services, refused to be involved.
"She did the only thing she thought she could do—try to blow up my daughter's relationship with me," Elliott told Newsweek.
"My daughter told me she pulled her out of bed that night and told her I wasn't her 'real dad'. Then she showed her some of the texts I had sent without context and tried to convince our daughter I was trying to steal her from her mom," he said.
Elliott took his ex-partner to court and was initially granted 50 percent custody. However, as months passed and the mother made increasingly poor decisions, Elliott gained majority physical legal custody, becoming the most consistent and reliable figure in his daughter's life.
"I've sacrificed a lot to make sure my daughter has a stable and happy childhood, and I've fought like hell for her in and out of court many times," he wrote in the Reddit post.
Now, Elliott told Newsweek that the relationship between him and his daughter is the best it's ever been.
"I don't talk about the biology thing very much in my real life because it's honestly not a very big deal. But on the rare occasion I do, the number one response I get is how lucky my daughter is to have me," Elliott said.
"I always have to correct them by saying, 'If you knew my daughter, you'd understand that I am far luckier to have her,' and it's true, because she is the most amazing person I know. She has more compassion and empathy than anyone I've ever met," he said.
An unconventional family dynamic was a concern for him, though, leading the dad-of-one to seek advice from a child counselor to explain her biological history in a healthy way, but his daughter's reaction was muted.
"She refused to open up and talk about what was on her mind. After about a dozen nonproductive sessions, the counselor came to the conclusion she simply wanted to know I wasn't going anywhere," Elliott said.
Just before the sessions ended, the counselor encouraged the little girl to write in a journal—the same notebook where Elliott discovered the note that brought him to tears.
He shared what it had said in his Reddit post: "I have my best person to me sitting right next to me. His name is Dada. He has the best personality. He's the best dad I could wish for in the whole world. If I could pick a dad, it would be my dad that I have right now."
"Reading this note was an extremely emotional thing for me as a father," Elliott said.
"I had spent months wondering what was going on behind those beautiful blue eyes and worrying about it. Was she confused, was she hurting? Is she OK?" he asked.
The note gave Elliott the confidence he needed that he is her real dad, and the most important judge of that is the person who wrote it.
At the time of writing, Elliott's post has received over 4,600 upvotes and hundreds of comments from other Reddit users who resonated with the dad's situation.
"My stepdad came into the picture when I was 12, I'm 35 now, if they ever split, I'm taking him in the divorce," one user wrote.
"My mom and dad divorced and each remarried. Both my biological parents have died, but I've kept my stepparents," another shared.
Elliott said that the reaction online was extremely positive and shared that a couple in a similar situation had even reached out to him to talk.
"A family isn't a family because of a biological link. A family is a family because of trust, love and consistency, and we have always had those three things. I've made sure of that," Elliott added.
"My daughter knows that I'm her dad because I chose to be, not because a court ordered me to. She knows that choice is the single best choice I've ever made and that I'm not going anywhere," he said.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
