His Fullways Went to His Children
Phillip Herron had showered much love on his children during his short time as a single father. Friends, family, and all acquaintances would be quick to inform that, through perseverance and love, Phillip Herron juggled from one job to the next to secure a future for his children. Days would be laden with classes, shifts, or his children turning in at bed-orthat was Phillip’s ‘normal.’ He embraced this routine, despite the stresses.
Yet inwardly intensified a battle with dire financial straits, long hours away from family, an agonizing resistance to asking help from his inner circle, and another hidden blow of an ongoing personal struggle.
All the weight he’d carried broke his back until those close could tell with utmost certainty that he really never asked for help and carried this whole burden all alone.
Last Straws
Led by the single dad’s growing tension in the last dozen months of his life, he slipped into a soliloquy of his life. He lost his apartment lease due to most of it being many months past due; in bad need of help, he could not receive it from anyone’s good hearts except himself. Friends tell countless stories about Phillip’s recluse behavior while strongly believing that all signs pointed to his having been beaten down by the entirety of this single-dad lifestyle. His constant smiling, hardened in the end by any dark mien, became more delivering only of fright.
That one winter evening, as one in a lifetime of intended get-togethers slipped beyond the years already gone, the life of a single dad was concluded irredeemably. He died; Tobias and Penelope lived.
The circumstances surrounding Phillip’s untimely passing remain under investigation. Initial reports are alleging suicide—a tragic end to the life of a man who held his family together so dearly.
A Community in Mourning
Despite this righteous mourning coming down, Phillip’s world was crumbling to dust. A GoFundMe was created, appealing for help to support his children with donations. An interesting blend of kindness from strangers grew, all eager to support the children. Grief-laden vigils were held outside his apartment, where friends in swoon told about his kindness: fixing a neighbor’s car or spending all night by the bedside of a sick senior while comforting him.
“Phillip was the kind of dad who made sure his kids never felt like they were missing anything,” says her sister, Rebecca. “But nobody saw how much he was hurting inside.”
Silks of Gold Stretched Across the Sky of Lonely Fathers
Surely the story of Phillip Herron unearthed a subject scarcely ever spoken of: how single fathers may find themselves in deep holes with mental health. Single fathers are more likely to have more difficult times—socially isolated, financially depressed, and pressurized by society to “be strong,” all of which work against the father’s taking necessary steps toward seeking support.
“There is no reason men should suffer in silence,” says Dr. Alan Carter, a child psychologist advocating for parental mental health. “They are expected to be the rock; they never once made use of support, and so that rock crumbles.”
Calls for Change
But there is a widespread hue and cry for instant improvement of the resources to enhance the mental health of single-parent fathers. Community groups and local organizations are involved in reaching singles, whom they aim to get to speak freely to others about their plight.
Meanwhile, the young are simply being loved up by relatives; the founder of the day remains a question mark on their faces. The hope is that the man of this departed body will forever hold, through community grieving, a call for help to stronger, palpable parents.
