Dear Anita,

You are correct that is not the beginning beginning.

My parents got divorced when I was 2 years old on my mother’s initiative. I did have a relationship with my dad but he was a very negative person – always putting me down and not caring about me at all. He was boasting about me to his friends and other relatives but to my face it was very judgmental. We had a huge fight 6 years when I finally had enough and we haven’t met or talked since – and I’m glad since he only brought negative emotions.
Whilst I was growing up I had 2 step fathers – first in my younger years. A man who was very firm and possessive. Second one in my teenage years. He was a casino addict and long story short when he was in the casino zone he flipped out. This ended up with me protecting my mother from his aggressiveness and throwing him out (he was afraid of me). All my life it’s been my mum and me sticking together through thick and thin – we’ve had some rough times financially and emotionally but we always overcame them and to this day we are very close and talk about everything. 3 years ago my mother met the most wonderful man and she is very happy. His new husband is very protective of us and thinks of me as his own daughter (so do his parents) – he is exactly the father I would have liked to have my whole life. He inspires me and boosts my confidence – he has had a great effect on myself and my mother too.
It’s not like I grew up without any good male influences. I have 2 uncles who I know are always there when I need them. Up until a few years ago I had a very close relationship with my grandfather. But after my grandmother passed away he found a girlfriend and disappeared from our families lives.

I have gone to therapy in the past but achieved a point where it wasn’t necessary. I was diagnosed with depression age 18 so that’s where it started, overcoming that we worked on my confidence issues and then it was brought up I have daddy issues. I also didn’t trust men: when I was 12 I was groped on public transport by a group of 18-year olds and nobody helped me. While living abroad I was forcefully taken by a stranger at a party (luckily I woke up almost immediately). These all contributed to the fact that I couldn’t even speak to men face to face or stay alone with them. It took me years to get over it. It also took me years to get intimate with someone – to trust someone enough.
My confidence has grown tremendously over the years with a huge thank you for that to my stepdad, mother and friends (and therapy)! I no longer suffer from depression, if I do have the moments where I’m slipping back I have excellent friends who see the signs and drag me out of it. I can talk to men in a normal matter and am not scared of them.

Overall my life is good to be honest – everybody has had issues in their past: the family I have is very supportive, I have very good friends, a job I love, I’m financially set and very independent. It’s just the one aspect – love – that hasn’t worked out for me at all. And the one thing does bring me down a lot because I definetly want to have kids and a family. I’m also getting tired of being that independent, I’ve always been strong and taken care of myself since I was 17 (my mother was there at all times, but I’m just an independent person) but now for some time I really want someone to take care of me as well. SOmeone to support me like my mother’s new husband does.

I think these are the key issues put as shortly as I can, there are more details but there’s not enough room for those and I feel they are not as important.

Thank you once again for reading my thoughts and thinking with me – it has already really helped me 🙂