My Beautiful Daughter’s Story Didn’t End in 2015….And Neither Did Mine.

Some days I still wait to hear her voice.

After Maddie died, I didn’t know how to move forward. I only knew I had to. For my sons. For myself. For her.

People still ask why I write about my daughter, Maddie.
The answer has changed over time. But the primary reason remains the same; it makes me feel closer to her.

In the months and years after she died, I wrote to survive.
I wrote because the pain was too heavy to carry in silence.
I wrote because I was terrified of forgetting her face, her voice, her humour.
I wrote to hold on. Her memory. Her love. Her honour.

"Writing was grief trying to find air."

Writing was grief trying to find air.

Now it is different.

I no longer write to escape the pain.
I write because Maddie is part of my life, and speaking about her keeps her real.
She is not a memory that fades with time. She is my daughter. She always will be.

When I sit down to write, it is time dedicated to her.
My boys are here. Their lives continue to unfold.
Maddie remains the same age forever.
Writing is one of the few places where time stands still. I can be close to her.

Some days the words come easily.
Some days it is difficult.
Both are part of grief.

"I learned how to be a better father because of her, not after her."

I look back and see how much she taught me.
About patience.
About paying attention.
About loving without holding back.
I learned how to be a better father because of her, not after her.

And now, my reasons for writing continue to shift.

I write because other parents reach out and say,
"I do not know where to start"
"I am scared for my child and I feel alone." “Help! I don’t know what to do.”

I know that place.
I remember how isolating it was.
I remember how it felt to not know what to do, or who to ask for help.
No parent should have to navigate that alone.

This is where The MentorWell comes in.

It grew out of the same fear I once lived in.
The fear of missing signs.
The fear of uncertainty.
The fear of doing the wrong thing.

The MentorWell exists because parents and teens need a place to speak openly.
They need guidance without judgment.
They need someone steady in the room when everything at home feels unsteady.

"Writing is one of the ways I keep her with me. Not frozen in pain. But present in purpose."

I write now to help parents see what I did not see soon enough.
I write so they can act earlier.
I write so their kids feel understood before they feel overwhelmed.
I write because support should not arrive only after crisis.

I write because Maddie still shapes who I am and what I do.
Her story did not end in 2015.
I carry her into the work.
Into the conversations.
Into every parent I speak with who whispers, "I am afraid."

Writing is one of the ways I keep her with me.
Not frozen in pain.
But present in purpose.