You have every right to.
But there is one thing I need you to know.
Those girls didn't lose a father when I left.
They gained one.
You became the man I should have been.
And I will spend the rest of my life being grateful that they had you.
I'm sorry, Noah.
Please tell them I loved them.
And please tell them that you were always their dad."
June stopped reading.
I couldn't breathe.
The stadium was completely silent.
Then Ava walked toward the edge of the stage.
She held up another piece of paper.
"But Dad, that's not the letter we wanted you to hear."
I looked at her.
She smiled.
"We wrote our own."
The Moment I Broke Down
All three girls walked toward me.
Ava spoke first.
"You always told us that raising us wasn't a sacrifice."
Claire continued.
"You always said you chose us."
Then June looked directly at me.
"But we know what you gave up."
My eyes filled with tears.
Ava said:
"You gave up your twenties."
Claire said:
"You gave up your thirties."
June smiled through her tears.
"And you gave us everything you had left."
Then all three said together:
"So today, we want to give something back to you."
Behind them, the screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
It was the very first picture I had ever taken of them.
Three tiny babies sitting in their car seats.
Then another photograph appeared.
Their first birthday.
Then kindergarten.
Then middle school.
High school.