I probably chose to forget the good times and only kept memories of the pain and loneliness I felt when he left us.

“I don’t have many memories of my father… I probably chose to forget the good times and only kept memories of the pain and loneliness I felt when he left us. I was six when he started a new family and cut off all contact with me. Later, my mother got married again and I got four more sisters; and even though my mother treated me with the same love, I felt alone. I was just too small to deal with the situation. Something was left broken inside me. I developed this huge fear of being left alone again which played a big part in my relationships. I would never realise when my relationships stopped working and I had two long ones where my boyfriends had to make the decision for me. Every break-up left me in pieces and I had a really tough time starting over in life until I finally decided that I have to deal with my fears. I needed to realise that I have no choice but to embrace and explore being alone. I started to say yes to opportunities that I would never have been brave enough to say yes to and slowly these decisions changed me and my life. This is why I actually moved to Ireland, I had to start from zero, completely alone. I am four months in, and being open to meeting new people has been the best time of my life… It may sound like a cliché but probably only because it’s true. Life is too short to spend it running away from your problems. And looking back now, dealing with my fears was actually much more fun than struggle.”