From Marcus Lane
41 • Charlotte, NC • ER Nurse • Father to Maya (9)
“I thought being reliable, showing up, doing my job, and putting my daughter first was enough. I didn’t realize I’d have to prove it in court like I was on trial.”
I didn’t see it coming the way it happened. My marriage had been fading for years, sure—but when I got served, it still hit like a punch I wasn’t braced for.
I work nights in an ER. I’ve seen a lot. People at their worst. People at their most fragile. But nothing quite prepared me for custody papers and a motion that said I was “uninvolved.”
The irony is, I’ve scheduled my life around my daughter’s since the day she was born. I Facetime her every morning before school—even on double shifts. I’ve been to every parent-teacher conference. I just didn’t document it. I didn’t think I’d need proof that I love my kid.
The hardest part hasn’t been the divorce itself. It’s been the sense that everything I’ve quietly done for years doesn’t matter because it wasn’t loud, public, or prepared like an exhibit.
When I found Splitifi, I wasn’t looking for help. I was looking for a way to make sense of the paperwork—something to decode the mess.
What I found was a platform that didn’t try to make me feel small for not knowing the system. It just gave me tools to tell the truth—cleanly.
I started building a record of every exchange. Every pickup. I built a custody schedule that actually works with my shifts instead of fighting them. I stopped reacting and started tracking.
I don’t post about my life. I’m not that guy. But if my story helps one other father out there realize he’s not failing—he’s just out-documented—then it’s worth saying:
You’re not invisible. You’re just unorganized.
Get organized.
—Marcus
