My Dad Thought I’d Be Better Off Without Him.

The day I found out how my dad really died… was the same day I started learning how to live. I was 6 when he died. 36 when I finally found out why. And what no one tells you about hiding the truth to ‘protect’ your kids… is that the silence leaves its own scars. This isn’t just about my dad. It’s about what happens when you don’t say the hard things. And what it took for me to finally say them to my kids.

 

After decades of believing his dad died in an “accident,” a 36-year-old father of two stumbles on a box in his grandmother’s attic that shatters everything he thought he knew. Inside are the letters his dad wrote before ending his life on Father’s Day, 2002 — just hours after spending a perfect afternoon with his 6-year-old son.

This episode isn’t just about one family’s tragedy. It’s about what happens when we bury the truth to protect the next generation — and how those buried truths grow into silent fears, shame, and questions that echo for decades.

This is a story about generational healing, suicide loss, mental health, fatherhood, and finally giving the next version of yourself a fighting chance.

Because the truth might hurt. But silence does worse.