A note to fathers

I wrote this in February during one of my depressions and I couldn't think of a better day to share this. This is something I would've wanted in my dad but I never got.

All a daughter wants...

 

All a daughter wants when she is a child is for you to make her feel safe when you tuck her in at night and she's scared of the monsters hiding under her bed and in her closet.

She wants you to banish her fears during a thunderstorm.

She wants to feel safe when she's ill.

She wants to feel safe when she does something wrong and she waits for her punishment nervously.

She wants to be able to look up at you and say "My daddy is my hero!"

 

When she's in school she wants you to advice her on how to get through classes she doesn't like, how to fight back when she gets bullied on the playground, how to win over a difficult teacher.

She wants to be taught about life and listen to stories of how life was when you were young.

She wants to know how brave she was when she fell off her bike and scraped her knee for the first time.

She wants to look into your eyes and trust you to take care of her. 

When she gives her first piano recital and makes mistakes onstage she wants you to stand up and cheer her on louder than the music notes.

She wants to hear that she's a winner just the way she is so she can say  so she can say "My daddy is my hero.".

 

When she passes out of Class Ten she wants to spend time with you discussing which career path would be the best for her because no one knows her better than Daddy does.

She wants guidance and advice so she can make the right choice.

She wants you to weigh the pros and cons and share her dreams, not your dreams that you think she should be living.

She wants you to be supportive of the path she chooses whether you agree or not.

She wants you to be proud of her so she can say "My daddy is my hero."

 

When she gets her first boyfriend, has her first break up she wants you to hold her close and tell her that everything will be all right and that she deserves someone so much better than the boy who dumped her. Reassure her that the right person will come to her when he has to and then you tear up when she tells you that she wishes she finds a man just like you.

On her wedding day, the most important day of her life, all she wants is for you to walk her down the aisle and hand her over to the man she has chosen to spend the rest of her life with and wait for her to say "You're still my daddy and you're still my hero and no man can match up to you but I think the one I am about to say "I do" to, comes pretty close to how you are!" You both move on, you continue your journey, she starts a new one. Hopefully your daughter will have a daughter of her own who will be proud of her daddy just like how your daughter was.

 

A daughter's wants are nothing flashy and not much... and there's nothing in this world that's more important than having her father walk her down the aisle, feeling proud of his girl and the way he raised her. A father-daughter bond is so sacred and no one should come between that and tear it apart. No father should allow it to happen. If he's raised his daughter right then he can trust with his heart that she will always do the right thing and if he doubts that he should retrace his steps back to the day she was born and relive the moments in his memory. He will know that he has raised his girl to do the right thing. There's nothing greater than a father's faith in his daughter.

 

Anyone can be a father but it takes a real man to be "dad"!!!

Author's Note

This is something I wanted my father to be but he never really was. My grandfather stepped in his shoes right up until I was 11. I was raised by him. After he died I never really spent time with my dad and I don't know if miss not having done that. However, I missed him on my wedding day and the worst part is he is alive. My bond between him and me was severed thanks to my brother and his wife... and this is what came out of it. This is where, how and why this note was inspired.
If you're a dad who's reading this, please be the reason your daughter smiles and not the reason she cries. Be the hero she needs. A father is supposed to be a daughter's first hero... be that man right up until your last breath!