Reddit legitimately improved my life and I think has helped my relationship with my daughter immensely

I have posted a few times before about my deceased wife and my 14 yo girl. I received a massive outpouring of support and kindness from literal hundreds of people. Both myself and my daughter have been in therapy since it was suggested to me months ago and we’ve also spoken a lot about her mother.Sharing stories with her is still slightly painful but mostly cathartic. There is something so precious and beautiful about seeing a kids eyes light up when hearing about their mom.So where we’re at now is that I’m actually dating again and I’ve got to say I’m quite enjoying our time together. It’s been 3 months and I’m wondering when is a good time to tell my daughter that I’m dating someone. (What are your thoughts on this, btw? I think it’s important your kids see you as a human with needs and emotions but I also don’t want to put too much on her.)I hadn’t really looked back over the year until yesterday evening at her grandparents’ house for Christmas. It was around 8pm and came after a beautiful day with the family. My wife’s parents are incredible people and still to this day treat me and call me as their son.Anyway, I was in the kitchen and I was talking to one of her uncles. She popped in, smiled and went back into the area everyone else was in. A few minutes later after her uncle left she came back in and ran up to me and hugged me. She said to me “Dad you’re so much happier than before. I’m so proud of you! This is exactly what mom would want.”It partly made me sad because I thought damn how miserable was I before. But more than that I felt extremely happy that I’d made some progress and that my daughter and I are in a better state than before.I’m seriously grateful for the Reddit community for steering me in the right direction.And as a particularly funny (at least I thought it was funny) add on, this morning at breakfast she said to me “I’d like to be a big sister.” Didn’t even look up from her oatmeal. It was so deadpan everyone thought it was hilarious. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2pAYPgp