21 Jun 2026

While some social media feeds are filled with celebratory tributes every Father’s Day, a quiet collective grief simultaneously unfold online for millions navigating the ‘father wound’.

Author Daphney Palmer is one of those souls who decided to step directly into that heartbreak with her debut book, Dear Dad.

The book aims to transform the pain felt every year on this day into a private journey of generational healing.

In Dear Dad, Palmer defined the ‘daddy wound’ as the painful emotional void left by an absent, emotionally unavailable or deceased father.

For Palmer, who guides minds daily as a professional teacher, she explained that the book was born from a place of deep personal truth and reflection.

Having lost her father before they could establish a meaningful relationship, she grew up wondering what it felt like to have a dad, a void she confirmed influenced her adult life, self-esteem and relationships. “I always looked for my father in people I met and never found him,” Palmer said.

Every year around Father’s Day, she said she noticed that women ‘bleed’ on social media, expressing that deep ache.

To turn pain into purpose, she mentioned she decided to write something that offered them understanding and healing.

When a child’s foundational needs for security, validation, and protection go unmet, the effects do not vanish with age. Instead, they follow them into adulthood. This usually rubs off, manifesting as trust issues, low self-esteem, or confusion in adult relationships, she said.

According to the author, the book addressed the complex paths to closure, acknowledging that healing was subjective.

While she champions reconciliation where possible, she also spoke to those left with unanswered questions due to a parent’s passing or unwillingness to amend the relationship.

She noted that it was not the duty of a child to make the father present, emphasising that adult children must eventually find a way to forgive and heal for their own sanity and peace, even when closure was not neatly handed to them.

At its heart, she explained that Dear Dad was a safe space meant to remind readers of three core truths. First, ones’s worth was absolute, because an absent father was never a reflection of a child’s value or potential.

Second, she said one’s feelings were valid and that it was okay to acknowledge buried wounds, adding that seeking counseling was a sign of strength if the burden was too heavy to carry alone.

“Lastly, you hold the pen, proving you are not doomed to repeat the cycles of the past. You cannot rewrite your past, but you can choose how your story continues. You are not what happened to you. You are who you choose to become,” she said.

She also used the book to applaud present fathers both biological and paternal figures who showed up daily, took accountability and built strong bonds through consistent emotional, financial and social support.

The book also highlighted the critical role of mothers in protecting and nurturing their children’s emotional well-being, even when the relationship between the adults had broken down. ENDS