Dale Jefferson was forty-four when he got the chance of a lifetime.
Dale was a hopeless romantic and had never found the woman he was looking for. He only had one choice if he wanted to get a child: adoption.
Dale got a call from the agency. They told him that they had a 6-year-old girl that needed a home. They asked if he would be interested in adopting her.
Dale didn’t want to miss out, so he immediately agreed.
There was a problem with Lise. Every time a home took her in, she was returned.
But Dale and Lise got on well straight away.
Over time, Dale realized that it was tough to build a close relationship with Lise.
She mostly kept to herself and didn’t have any friends, which was unusual for a teenage girl. At first, Dale thought she might prefer being alone.
Lise was a teenager, but everything felt the same as before. Then, suddenly, it was time for Dale to leave for college.
Dale thought Lise would try harder to stay close to him now that they would be so far apart. But he was in for a surprise.
Dale did his best to stay in touch with Lise for the first few weeks. However, it was difficult for her to talk because they were so far apart.
Dale was sad about what she had done. Lise lived so far away now, and he missed his daughter, but he couldn’t keep the relationship they once had. That was when Dale decided to take drastic action.
He decided to visit her, but when he arrived, he couldn’t find her anywhere. The college told him that she had dropped out after the first term.
Dale was sad that she hadn’t told him about it. But he was too worried about her safety to think about her secrets.
Dale called her straight away, but there was no answer, so he sent her several text messages. He grew increasingly worried. But then he had a thought.
Dale felt like a failure. He had spent years trying to be a good father, but now that his daughter didn’t want to talk to him, he wondered if he wasn’t as good a dad as he thought he was.
He wanted to get his daughter back, but he knew he couldn’t force her to be with him if she didn’t want to. He sent her a text to ask if she was okay. Her reply left him with more questions than answers.