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FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS
The Best Name I Ever Had
To protect and love
Today, I am reminded of a guest speaker who visited my school a few years ago. She had been a small child during the Holocaust. Her story isn’t mine to tell, but she left me with a quote.
“As a child, it is important to always know that there is someone who loves you and who will take care of you.”
I remember early on when my daughter learned to talk and to call me “DADDY”. She would have a beautiful smile when she said it, and I’m sure that she could see that it also brought me happiness. She uses it inquisitively when we’re playing hide and seek, joyfully when I pick her up after school, and full of giggles when we’re laughing together about something. She will use it when she asks for a bedtime story, or when she’s excited about something that she wants to show me. I am DADDY, hers and hers alone.
She calls me DADDY when she is unsure about something and needs me to reassure her, and sometimes still fearfully at night when she is awakened by a bad dream. I like that she calls my name when she feels a need to be protected, and I don’t mind jumping from under the covers and holding her hand while she falls back to sleep. I’ll never be able to protect her…
