Richard Johnson’s life changed forever in January of 2015. He had been riding the high that most new dads feel after the birth of his daughter Persephone, but Richard was brought crashing down to Earth when his wife ran away with their newborn daughter.

Richard’s wife had run away because of her postpartum depression, and she threatened to put Persephone up for adoption if Richard did not immediately come get her. When Richard was finally reunited with his daughter, it was just the two of them against the world, and he faced nothing but uncertainty.

Richard found support on a Facebook page called “Life of Dad” that showcased lives of other single fathers, and he decided to share his story there in a post that quickly went viral. Here’s what he had to say:

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.

Sincerely,
Persephone & Richard Johnson”

In April of 2017, Richard posted an update that had the entire world cheering, and it’s sure to warm your heart!

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 grand parents, etc.

They have shown her so much love and acceptance I can not begin to explain.

We’re so glad to see that this story had a happy ending! God bless this little family!

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