Hello Love,

It takes a lot of courage to go deep inside, and visit parts of yourself that you didn’t realize existed. For years, I longed to have my daddy in my life. Not just on occasions, but consistently and daily. Unfortunately, this was not the life that I lived. Due to separation between my parents, I grew up without my daddy.

As a little girl, I remember feeling the pain of isolation, not fitting in or simply feeling different from all the other little girls, whose fathers lived with them. While my mom gave me all the love and nurturing a mother could give her daughter, there was still this hole inside of me that needed and longed for my daddy.

I didn’t know how to articulate what I was feeling. I simply knew that for most of my younger years, I carried within me this deep, unexpressed sadness. Little did I know, this sadness would follow me into adulthood.

I finished high school, college, graduate school, accepted a rare speech-language pathology job opportunity, and focused a lot on my career. I wanted to be successful. No, I had to be successful because my accomplishments somehow made me feel worthy and good enough. Then it happened.

I had my defining moment. It was after a broken engagement from a man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. I was alone and sad, once again. I remembered this feeling. I’d been here before. It was the same sadness that followed me throughout my childhood, and I was feeling it again as an adult woman. I knew that I had to go deeper and that’s exactly what I did.

I was a fatherless daughter and I needed to heal my daddy wounds. Through working with my Fatherless Daughter Advocate and Coach, I embarked upon a journey of love, acceptance, and forgiveness. I came to understand my true worth and value that existed within WHO I am, and not in what I did. I began to understand that my heavenly Father loved me before I existed in my mother’s womb, and that love is everlasting and all consuming.

Through this process, I have reunited with my father and together we have an incredible relationship. My story is that of so many young girls who are growing up without the love, affection, and attention of their daddy. I know all too well what that daddy hunger feels like, and I am committed to helping little girls learn how to express their pain, heal their pain, and live a happy and joyous life, even in the absence of their daddy.

Who am I? I am Angela Adley and I want you to know that you are Love, Loved, and Lovable.