Father Knows...

Having children gives you the chance to view your own parents with new eyes. The larger than life figures that you idolized (villianized?) are often seen through different lenses. Complicated relationships are sometimes made even more so taking into consideration that your parents are only human, flawed but with hopes and dreams and failures of their own to contend with.

Father-daughter relationships can be extra tricky. I remember first having kids and being surprised at how attentive my dad seemed; how present and thoughtfully he cared for them. My dad, in my childhood memories, always loomed a stern and imposing figure. As a grandfather, he’s funny and playful, things I’d misremembered about him for far too long.

Looking at my own girls and knowing the adoration they have for their father warms me. I know their future will have its ups and downs. Raising open minded children and showing them how to have autonomy while caring for others is hard. Pair all of that with mundane math homework and swim practice and eating all of your brussel sprouts, and the days feel unnecessarily long.

I hope, though, that the moments my kids have with him (us) now are establishing a strong enough foundation. I want them to always feel protected and believed and accepted. And even as things get harder, they know how his heart beats for them, and when he’s no longer a superhero in their eyes that the strongest memories they hold on to are ones filled with love.

#FatherDaughterDance2019