You Don’t Have to Be Perfect — You Just Have to Keep Showing UpFrom the Dads Don’t Fold Series

There’s a certain kind of weight you carry after you’ve lost almost everything — your mother, your brother, your partner, your home… the version of yourself you thought would last forever. And when I wrote my first post, A Father’s Rise from the Ashes, I thought maybe saying it out loud would release some of that weight.

But here’s the truth I didn’t realize until afterward:

Standing up from the ashes is one thing.
Learning how to live again is another.

There’s a part of healing that happens after the dust settles — when life is quiet enough for your thoughts to crawl out of the shadows again. That’s the part I’m walking through now.

That’s what this post is about.

It’s not about the fall.
Not about the breaking.
Not about the nights in the car or the long stretches of silence.

This is about the part where you start trying to rebuild…
with shaking hands…
with a cracked heart…
with kids who still need you…
and with a world that hasn’t stopped pressing down on you.

When You Start Rising, Life Still Hits Hard

People assume the moment you decide to keep fighting, the battle gets easier.

They don’t see the steps you take that feel like miles.
They don’t see the nights when you collapse the second the door closes.
They don’t see you sitting in the dark, staring at the floor, trying to convince yourself you’re still worthy of being a father your kids can rely on.

They don’t see the moments where you look in the mirror and whisper,
“Please don’t quit.”

They don’t see the part of you that’s still grieving — not just the death of the people you loved, but the death of the life you thought you were building.
They don’t see the way separation leaves a mark no therapist, no court, no stranger can fully understand.

And they can’t see the fear you carry as a dad —
the kind that hits when you look at your children and think:

“I hope they still see me as enough.”

Breaking Isn’t the Hardest Part — It’s the Aftermath

There’s a silence that shows up after heartbreak, after grief, after separation…
a silence no one warns you about.

It’s the silence you sit in after court.
After arguments.
After long shifts.
After a day where you feel like you’ve failed at everything and still have to try again tomorrow.

It’s the silence you drive home in when you didn’t get to see your kids.
The silence in the apartment that doesn’t feel like a home yet.
The silence in your chest when you’re trying not to let your mind go dark.

And in that silence, there’s a question that every hurting dad asks:

“How do I keep going when so much of me is gone?”

For a long time, I didn’t know the answer.
I still don’t always know it.

But I’ve learned this:

You don’t have to know how.
You just have to keep showing up.

The Look in My Son’s Eyes Changed Me

In Post 1, I shared the nights I sat alone, the grief, the panic, the fear, the loss.
But this part?
This is the deeper truth:

My son sees everything.

The confusion.
The tension.
The sadness I try to hide.
The way my voice changes when I talk about his siblings.
The effort I put into staying calm when everything inside me feels like it’s burning.

And that look in his eyes…
It’s not just sadness.
It’s searching.

He’s trying to figure out what’s happening.
He’s trying to understand the world by watching me.

And that’s when I realized something:

If my kids are watching me to figure out how to get through pain,
then I have to keep walking — even if I’m limping.

The World Thinks Dads Are Strong Until They Break — But What About After?

Nobody checks on men after the heartbreak.
Nobody checks on dads after the separation.
Nobody checks on fathers after they’re pushed out, shut out, blamed, or broken.

The world assumes we’re steel until we’re not.
And when we finally crack, people act surprised.

But here’s the truth:

We don’t break because we’re weak.
We break because we’re carrying everything.

The financial stress.
The emotional stress.
The fatherhood guilt.
The fear of losing our kids.
The pressure to provide no matter how exhausted we are.
The grief we don't talk about.
The long shifts.
The long nights.
The endless thoughts.
The silence.
The loneliness.
The weight of every memory and every mistake.

It all stacks up.

And yet…
here we are.

Still waking up.
Still working.
Still driving.
Still praying.
Still showing up.

Because dads don’t fold.
Even when the world gives them every reason to.

You Don’t Have to Be Perfect — You Just Have to Keep Showing Up

Perfection never built a strong kid.
Consistency did.
Presence did.
Love did — even the broken kind.

I’m learning to let go of the idea that I have to be the “perfect” father.
I’m learning that the dad who cries but keeps going
is stronger than the dad who never feels anything.

I’m learning that my kids don’t need a superhero —
they need a man who gets back up every time he falls.

A man who loves them loudly.
Protects them fiercely.
Fights for them quietly.
Shows up repeatedly.

Even when he’s tired.
Even when he’s hurting.
Even when he’s still rebuilding himself.

That’s fatherhood.
That’s resilience.
That’s what the world never sees but kids never forget.

And that’s why this is the first chapter of Dads Don’t Fold.