Being a single father was never the future I imagined, but it became the part of my life that gave everything else direction. I worked two jobs—one with the city sanitation crew, the other cleaning offices at night—barely keeping enough money for our small apartment, which always smelled like someone else’s cooking. Despite the exhaustion, my six-year-old daughter, Lily, made every day feel possible. Ballet became her language, the way she expressed every joy and every worry. When she discovered a flyer for a beginner class, the price nearly crushed me, yet her hope was so bright that I promised we would make it work. I saved every spare dollar in an envelope marked “Lily – Ballet,” skipping lunches and stretching every shift just to give her that chance.
Continue reading…
