I've made mistakes. I've been wrong. I've done things I regret, but who hasn't? I'm not perfect, but no one is and for this reason I believe in forgiveness. If you can't learn to forgive, how can you expect to be forgiven.

My dad has been my best friend my whole life. From the day I was born I was a die hard daddies girl. However, he hasn't always made the right decisions in life. In fact, if there's one thing I remember most throughout my childhood, it was him leaving for weeks at a time. He would get caught up with the wrong people and then be to embarrassed to come home.

A little over a year ago my parents got a divorce. It wasn't one of those quiet peaceful divorces, no, it was war. They didn’t just sit down one day and decide things weren’t working out. Instead, my mom smacked my dad in the face and my dad threw my mom head first down the stairs by her hair. It was probably the worst day of my life. But it didn’t stop there. Three months later, my grandfather, the only person who had ever kept my family together, passed away. The man who kept my father in place for all those years, was gone.
At this point, I thought to myself, wow, ok, it can’t get any worse right? Wrong. Two weeks later, my dad abandoned me. Not the kind of left me on the side of the road abandoned, but more of the just kind of walked out of my life, with no goodbye, nothing. He was caught up with all the wrong people again. For two months, I sat there confused with no answers as to why he walked out of my life. I wondered how he could choose drugs over his own daughter. I was so mad at him. He was missing out on everything, like my first high school dance. I sat there watched all my friends parents take pictures, and be so happy, while I had no one. I was so alone in a room full of people.

Until one day, I worked up the courage to text him. I had had enough. I was done playing games. I wanted answers and, I wanted them now. We decided to get lunch together and talk. We were talking for awhile and it was going well, until he fell apart. I watched the strongest man I know break down and cry in my arms. It was time to put the past behind us.
Some of you might wonder how I can forgive someone who has caused so much pain. But I’ll tell you now, you should be able to forgive no matter what. Forgiving my father has changed my life so much for the better. He has gotten help, and both of us are so much happier. We’re best friends again, and he is the most amazing person I’ve ever met. So I believe in forgiveness because it truly can make a difference.