Marriages don’t always last forever, and that’s OK. But if you have kids, you don’t stop being a dad at the end of yours.
Boston-based lawyer and ex-husband Billy Flynn Gadbois made that clear in a Facebook post that’s since struck a chord with people around the world.
Tackling the criticism he receives for the way he treats his ex-wife, he posted the following:
"It's my ex-wife's birthday today so I got up early and brought flowers and cards and a gift over for the kids to give her and helped them make her breakfast. Per usual someone asked me why the hell I still do things for her all the time. This annoys me. So ima break it down for you all.
“I'm raising two little men. The example I set for how I treat their mom is going to significantly shape how they see and treat women and affect their perception of relationships. I think even more so in my case because we are divorced.
“So if you aren't modeling good relationship behavior for your kids, get your shit together. Rise above it and be an example. This is bigger than you.
Raise good men. Raise strong women. Please. The world needs them, now more than ever."
In an interview with indy100, Gadbois said it wasn't always so easy. And no, they aren’t one of those annoyingly perfect online couples:
“We didn't do as well as we would have liked in the first bit of our divorce. We had to take our lumps and learn our lessons along the way, that's for sure.
“We had things to overcome on both sides to be able to set our own cr*p aside to focus on the kids instead of our own anger and resentments. It's not easy, but it can be done!
“We've worked hard over time to establish our boundaries and find ways to manage our interactions so our own issues are minimalised or left at home when it comes to the kids.
“It's an ongoing process but you can see a huge difference in the happiness and confidence and security of the boys since we started working at it.”
It’s safe to say Gadbois is single-handedly fixing the damage that #HurtBae’s ex-partner did to men on the internet’s reputation last week.
