Her Secret Reason For Leaving Her Child Behind

When Carrie's marriage fell apart, she left her husband and made the heartbreaking decision to leave her child with him.
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When Carrie's* marriage fell apart, she left her husband and made the heartbreaking decision to leave her child with him. I included Carrie's story in my recently released book, Secret Regrets Volume 2: Moving Past Your Past, because we're all like Carrie, to some extent; when faced with difficult situations, we try to make the best decisions after carefully weighing our options. We may later look back on those decisions and wonder if we made the right choice, and that's when regret surfaces and consumes our thoughts.

Thousands of people from all over the world just like Carrie have discovered a safe place to anonymously reveal the biggest regrets of their lives. My SecretRegrets.com website and bestselling Secret Regret book series started five years ago as an online confessional that quickly grew into a global support group of strangers helping strangers get through the toughest times of their lives. Carrie's story is a great example of that, and I've pasted it below along with feedback she received from the support community. After considering their perspectives, Carrie made another difficult choice -- which I've included below under the slideshow.

SECRET REGRET: I regret leaving without you. No you were not abused, you were not neglected. But he was never the father you deserved. I had to get out, but will you ever understand why you had to stay? Will you believe I abandoned you there to "live a carefree life" the way he thinks I did? Will you understand every night, every minute of every day, I wanted you with me but didn't want to uproot you from the only home you ever knew? I didn't want you to see me suffer, cry, and worry about where I would be, where I would stay. Yes, things fell into place -- my family has been a better support to me than I deserved. But I didn't know it would be this way. I didn't want you to have to suffer with me ... I regret that you may never understand that. - Your Mom, "Carrie," Age 27

UPDATE FROM CARRIE: Thank you to those who showed your support -- I sit here with tears in my eyes right now. I have started the movement to take custody of the kids now that things are in place for me to properly care for them. Now that someone will be here morning, noon and night to be with them. Now that they will have their own beds, bikes, clothes ... now that I can afford it all (he never would let me take it with me). It is only a matter of time before things change. - Carrie

*not her real name

Please feel free to add your comments to the conversation below, and be sure to add your own Secret Regret to our project at www.SecretRegrets.com. Then read more powerful, hopeful and inspiring stories of everyday people moving past the regrets of their past in the new Secret Regrets Volume 2 book, available on Amazon, or on Kindle or Nook.

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