A Japanese Proverb once said “Fall seven times,stand up eight.” Which means that every time you fall you have to stand back up. When I was twelve years old I had a choice of forgiving my dad for leaving me when I was three years old. I would think it through if I should or shouldn’t.

When I was three years old my dad left me because my mom and dad had problems. Thinking of forgiving him would be one of the hardest things because he wasn’t in my life for a very long time. He was the best dad for three years I can say, but never a good husband. Since I was a little girl i would cry because I wouldn’t be able to see him everyday like most kids do.

My mom and aunt would always bring up my dad when we would have a conversation together. If I would hear my family talking about my dad I would cry because i didn’t want to hear all the mistakes he made. My mom said “It might not hurt you, but it does hurt him”. When my mom told me that I kept on thinking more and more about it.

At the end of everything I forgave him because my mom told me “You won’t always have him in your life.” I forgave him a year ago and I go visit him more often now. I would never go visit him like i do now because since i forgave him I wanted to spend more time with him. I visit him for almost a week each month during the summer. My family never thought that I would forgive him just because of how I am. I always thought of forgiving him earlier was the best thing to do but since i wasn’t really sure or smart about it i didn’t do it. Even with each mistake that he made in his life I forgave him.
I learned to forgive my dad because it was the right thing to do and I wouldn’t know how long i was going to be mad at him for. Others can learn that being without a dad for ten years can be very hard and sad. I would cry every night because of how much i missed him. Even if I have a stepdad its still hard not being with your real dad. Even though he wasn’t with me for those ten years he’s still my father and nobody can replace him.