When I See Him Sad

Sometimes my daddy is sad and very quiet. Sometimes he won’t say a word for a long time, but I know he is thinking something.

When he is sad, I tell him I love him and say thank you for being such a good daddy.

Some days, he is too tired to get out of bed and takes naps all day long.

When he sleeps all day, I like to bring him a glass of juice and crawl into the bed with him.

Sometimes, he misses my favorite holidays because he doesn’t feel good. When he doesn’t get to come, I like to bring him home things so he feels like he was a part.

Sometimes he has to go away for a while to get better, so I write him letters every day to give to him when he comes home. I tell him everything that I did while he was gone.

Sometimes, my mommy gets upset with my daddy for being sad, but I tell her not to worry because we have each other.

Even when I don’t feel like talking, I tell mommy when I am sad that my daddy is sick. She says it’s good to say when it bothers me that I can’t play outside with him.

When he can’t play outside with me, I bring a puzzle in his room and work it beside him. He loves to see what it looks like when I am done.

When my friends ask me what is wrong with my daddy, I tell them that he is sick with something but I am not sure what to call it because sometimes he doesn’t know what is wrong either. I tell them that I hope that he feels better soon because he would play the best games with us.

My daddy’s favorite place to go is to the beach, so we are planning a trip for when he gets better. We will build sandcastles and run in the water. When the birds land on the sand we will run after them and make them fly into the air. My daddy loves to watch how fast their legs go.

Even though my daddy is sick, I know that he loves me and I love him and that means he is the best dad in the world.

My father battled depression for a few years, and eventually lost his life to it. Even though I was much older than the age I am targeting in this book, these were still things that I experienced and feelings that I had during his struggle. I think that it is important to give children tools to help them cope with someone they love battling depression. It is also helpful to show children that they are not alone in the way that they feel about the sadness they see in their parent.