From the Dad's Perspective

This past Saturday, the 17th, my youngest daughter, Mary Beth, became engaged to be married to a fine young man named Alejandro D'Brot. It was a fun event that the whole family was able to participate in and you can check the details on Christy's blog (abouttheogdens.blogspot.com). But I wanted to focus more on the view from the father of the bride to be. This is my third daughter to give away so I think I know a little of what I am talking about.

This is something that as a father you have been praying for for all of her life. It is something that as a woman she has dreamed about since she was a little girl. But no matter how much you like the guy, you always wonder if he is the right one for your little one.

In some respects there is freedom in releasing the responsibility and protection roles that you have had all of her life, but there is also the fear and trepidation as to whether that one will be able to care for her as you could and want. There is your joy which joins with her joy in getting that ring

Marrying your daughter is the last official act that you as a dad do in her life, and as this is my last daughter then my role as a father are now about to be complete.There is a little nostalgia in that.

You want to keep your arms around her always, but you know that that is not healthy, realistic or desirable. You want her to leave, go out on her own, flap her wings and fly; but all the while it hurts because you realize that she no longer needs you. And even more difficult is the fact that you are no longer the number one man in her life.

But having done this before, I realize that it is not the end because your little girl then becomes your friend and will be that for a lifetime. And then she rewards you with these little ones of her own and starts the whole process over again.









So that's it from a dad's perspective.