Daddy's Girl

#13: Always Daddy

I love my dad. I know he's not likely to be able to read this entry since he's from the tech-averse generation (imagine my good ole dad reading "vivaglam!" Goodness gracious!), but I'm saying it nonetheless. I love him to bits.

Last year, I spoke in church about how, as children growing up, our views of our heavenly Father get significantly shaped, if not largely determined, by how our earthly fathers are. In my case, I must say that I found it natural to behold God the Father as being omnipresent because my dad, through the years, never failed to give us the gift of "being there."

We'd come home from school - be it kindergarten, grade school, high school or college - he'd be there reading the newspaper, watching the news or sitting at the dinner table. We'd come home at the end of a workday - be it early enough for dinner or early enough to call it "the next day," he'd be there.

I never really understood how much of a big thing that is until I started working and found it so easy to just dine out with friends or do anything but go straight home from work. I know married guys who'd stay out much longer or go out more often than we singles do that it sometimes makes me wonder if their wives and children ever see them at all.

And now I know why my dad is always home. There is no lack of things to do elsewhere after work: socializing with colleagues, elbow-rubbing with top bosses, networking with bigwigs from the industry etcetera. But there will always be that desire in him to let his wife and his children know in a very tangible way that he will always choose to be available and accessible to them first of all, above all.

And I know.. because he told me so.

He will always go home to make dinnertimes funny, to annoy my mom by singing loudly and off-key, to declare to the whole household that I look like some gorgeous celebrity who bears no resemblance whatsoever to me (to the side-splitting laughter of our helpers) or that my brother got his good looks from none other than his good-looking daddy (which never fails to raise eyebrows around the table), to poke fun at brand managers whenever there's a lousy commercial on tv (to patronize me)... The list will go on and on. Bottomline is, he'll always be home to be daddy.

And I know... because 26 years of being his little girl told me so.