Father's Day is coming up so I thought it a perfect time to devote a post to my dad. It seems like the father/daughter relationship is such an interesting thing, wonderfully complex and very crucial to a girl's development into a woman. I have heard stories of how men are forever changed after holding their baby daughters for the first time. How there is a certain transformation that takes place in them, linking the dads and the daughters for life. Well that's not exactly how my first encounter with my dad went. My relationship with my dad isn't one that began instantaneously when I was handed to him as a screaming, red-faced newborn. He met my mom when I was 5 and they married soon after that. You see, when I say Dad, I am technically referring to my step-dad (although I totally hate that word and it doesn't apply here. Read on.)
Maybe our relationship officially began when I walked down the aisle with my mom to meet him at the altar (the other flower girl fell asleep and I refused to walk down alone). Then there was "D" day in Kindergarten when we invited our dads to school to eat homemade "d"oughnuts and wear construction paper "d"aisies on their lapels. It's possible we formed our bond over fashion when he took me to buy my kindergarten graduation dress (a smart chambray shirt dress with a popped collar and wide white leather belt...ah 1988). From 5 years old to now (I'm 28), I can't even begin to list all the things we've gone through together and all the times he's been there for me. Standing in line, driving me around, cheering me on, footing the bill, making the call, offering advice, sticking it out. From glasses, new school clothes, and piano lessons to braces, my first car, and college...he's been the magic behind it all. Of course I have a wonderful mom, but this post is about fathers.
Just because our relationship started differently doesn't mean that it is any less amazing than the ones that start in the delivery rooms of hospitals. In fact, I think ours is more amazing because we know how lucky we are to have each other. And even though he didn't come onto the scene until I was 5, I honestly can't picture a moment of my life before he was in it.
I can’t tell you how many times his famous words “remember who you are & where you come from” have popped into my mind in one situation or another. And his less G-rated advice “don’t take no sh!t” has come in handy once or twice too. Yeah, he’s a keeper. So Happy Father’s Day Dad! I love you more!
