The courtroom was quiet when our five-year-old daughter, Chloe, was asked to speak. She clutched her worn stuffed rabbit and said softly, “I don’t want to be second to anybody.”
Her words stopped everything. No shouting, no tears — just truth.
“Daddy’s always away,” she said. “Mommy’s home, but sometimes she doesn’t see me. I just want to feel important.”
In that moment, my ex-wife and I finally saw what we’d missed — our daughter’s loneliness in the middle of our broken marriage. The judge spoke gently: “Love isn’t just about providing. It’s about being present.”
So we started over — not as husband and wife, but as parents. We made time for her: bedtime stories, screen-free nights, calls when apart. Slowly, Chloe’s laughter returned.
Her words still guide me:
“I don’t want to be second to anybody.”
She reminded us what love really means — to show up, every single day.
