Patton Oswalt on becoming a single father: 'I'm going to keep going forward'

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Patton Oswalt has penned a heartwarming letter to his daughter Alice about becoming a single father following the death of his wife Michelle McNamara.

"Five months and ten days ago, as I write this, I became a single father," Oswalt began his piece which appears in GQ magazine.

"I was half of an amazing parenting team, except we weren't equals," the comedian continues as he lists all the ways the family relied on McNamara and how he is trying his best to take care of Alice alone despite his initial fears.

"You will never be prepared for anything you do, ever. Not the first time. Training and practice are out the window the second they meet experience. But you'll get better. I have subjective yet ironclad knowledge of this," Oswalt writes. "If I can persuade a comedy club full of indifferent drunks to like me, I can have my daughter ready for soccer on a Saturday morning."

"I'm going to keep going forward, looking stupid and clumsy and inexperienced at first, then eventually getting it, until the next jolt comes, and the next floor drops out from under me, until there are no more floors."

Oswalt notes that Alice is the one pushing him forward and how she motivates him to continue on. "She's got so much of Michelle in her. And Michelle was living her life moving forward. And she took me forward with her. Just like I know Alice will. So I'm going to keep moving forward. So I can be there with you if you need me, Alice. Because I'll need you. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. Because of you, Alice."

McNamara, a writer, died in her sleep in April at the age of 46 back in April. Oswalt has previously suggested she died of an accidental overdose.