Hi all - this may be long, so settle in.

Until very recently, I was seeing a little and we had a significant age gap. (44/18 - this is relevant)

When we met, she was living with one parent, who she had been with since a child. The situation was.. dire. Awful. We grew closer, we planned, we played, etc.

Her living situation went south very quickly, and she was kicked from that house, and ended up terrified having to move across the country to another family she hadn't seen since she was a little girl. Her memories of them were tainted , badly, by the abuse she had undergone at the hands of her custodial parent during the custody fight.

After spending the past few months there, I have watched her absolutely blossom as a person. I tell you right now if I was this girls therapist I would be thrilled at the progress she's making. As her daddy I was also thrilled to see her making friends, purely enjoying time with her family, being so excited just to have the life full of love and warmth that she had been craving forever.

When she was with her abusive parent, there was no question that she was excited to just leave it all behind and be with me. I had the love and protection and care she wanted, home did not.

Now... the past few weeks she's really come to fully realize that carrying on with me would mean giving this newfound family up.. and that is a matchup I could not and did not win. It took a while, but with a lot of talking, she decided it was best to end things with me.

I am so genuinely, and purely happy to see her so happy and secure. It's amazing. I cannot stress this enough - anyone who would not be thrilled to see this happen for a sad little in a sad situation isn't a daddy. But I'm also heartbroken to lose her. I'm heartbroken that I'm not special anymore. I felt so needed, and watched that slip away little by little, waiting for her to come to the realization that I had already reached- she didn't need me anymore. The stress of waiting for that guillotine to drop was unbearable. But I bore it. And that stress is gone, but the lonely empty feeling inside... that is not.

I am sure there are other cg and littles here who have been through this. Where someone has just grown past needing a CG. That their life turned itself around suddenly. How did you balance the conflicted feelings? I've obviously been through a lot of breakups in my time on earth - but I've never had half of me jumping for joy over one while the other half weeps.