MY SECRET GRIEF Written by Lisa Dahling  2017

My secret grief is that I did not raise my daughter. I often wish I had fought for that, for the right to keep her and raise her as my own, instead of allowing my parents to bully me into relinquishing her. I was 17.

I do see now that my desire to remain in the family and the fear of losing my place was greater than my desire to have and keep my baby,

I do not believe I ever allowed myself to think about keeping her. I believed I would be all alone. They said I would be kicked out of the family, given no money and I would be stripped of my last name and told I could not live anywhere near them. Of course, intellectually it’s all nonsense. They couldn’t take away my last name, could they? Or determine where I lived?




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