Little Girls and Their Daddies

I have the most amazing Dad on the earth. Andy grew up the youngest of 3 boys so he really didn't understand when I have mentioned things about the special bond between Daddies and Daughters. I guess it's fair to say that the bond is only special if it is done right, so maybe special isn't the right word. Maybe influential to life is a better term. Think about it, done wrong (or not done at all) it can create a gaping whole in the middle of who we are but done well it can be the best foundation for who we are going to be in life.

I happen to be someone who was raised with the most amazing, strong and tender father in the world. In my common sense I know that he's not perfect since the fact remains that he is indeed human, but in my heart he absolutely is. As a little girl my Dad was gone a ton. When he would come back into town sometimes he would take me on a date. I can still remember getting dressed up in the fanciest Easter dress that I owned complete with pink pearls ready for a night out at Steak and Ale with my Daddy. I felt pretty...but looking back now I think the reason that memory has stuck with me for so long right next to the times that he would take me to the nicest restaurants in Manhattan and let me order whatever I wanted was not about feeling pretty but about feeling special. I saw my Dad as the single-most powerful person on the planet and for those moments he was interested in me and only me. He was interested in my stories (or at least pretended to be), he laughed at my jokes. He would beam with pride when some waiter would make a comment about how beautiful my big brown eyes were or how shocked they were that I could eat more than a grown man. I used to love it (and still do) when people would tell me that I looked just like him. It was just one more sign that he was my Daddy. In fact as silly as it sounds, I could not be more thrilled that Bella looks just like him too. Goes to show you that things girls feel when they are little don't always get erased with logic and responsibility. I think its safe to say that some of the saddest moments in my life have been when I knew that I let him down or hurt him. I feel the same way when I know that I have done or said something rotten to Andy.

I have begun to get so excited about the bond that Andy and Bella will have. Granted he does send her screaming and running out of the room when he walks in the door half of the time. But I think he is learning that it's not because she wants to get away from him but only to give her some attention. It's like her funny little way of saying come chase me, pick me up and launch me onto the bed way too hard, then tickle and kiss me under my chin until I am about to throw up from laughing too hard. When I watch the 2 of them sometimes my mind goes to the days when Bella will be backstage watching her Daddy speak to thousands of people, seeing God use him to change lives. I can't wait to see her learn to admire, respect, fear and adore her Daddy the way that I do mine. How awesome will it be to see her huge brown eyes beam with pride when she can say "That's my Daddy" just like I do. Geez how blessed am I to have that in a Father and a husband...pretty amazing.