They say a father is a little girl’s first true love.
He’s the one she looks for to chase away the monsters under her bed, to wipe away the tears after a nightmare, and to kiss her bruises and her cut up knees after she falls off her bike.
He’s there to teach her the difference between right and wrong, and to show her that even if she is wrong, there’s always someone in her corner. Continues on the next pages…
A good dad…
A good dad makes sure his daughter knows she’s a princess and deserves nothing less than prince charming. When it turns out that prince charming is a frog, he’s supposed to help mend her broken heart.
A good dad is supposed to remind his daughter constantly that she is beautiful, she is smart, and she is a good person. He never stops showing her that she can always trust him to be in her corner.
That’s what they tell you.
The truth is not all girls get to experience what it’s like to have a dad play a large role in their life.
They have to grow up teaching themselves how to be tough, how to change a tire or how to pick themselves up when they have no man to run to.
They also have to teach themselves how to trust other men coming into their lives. These girls hope that they won’t be left as disappointed as they were with their “dad.”
To The Father Who Neglected Our Daughter,
She’s never experienced what it was like to be a “daddy’s girl”. You didn’t spend the weekends making breakfast together, or teaching her how to survive in the real world.
You weren’t there for her birthday parties, father-daughter dances, or any holiday in between.
Instead, she experienced what it was like to meet her friends’ fathers and wonder why you weren’t like them.
You left her with excuse after excuse as to why things were the way they were.
You fed her every single line in the book…“Your mother didn’t allow me to visit,” “I was busy with work,” “Your brothers needed this,” or “Your stepmom…” but never the real reason.
She was never a priority in your life, though she tried her hardest to please you.
When she got older, she still hoped things would change. She desperately wanted you to fill the void that had been empty for so long.
You put on a show and let people think you treat all of your children equally. Behind closed doors, it wasn’t true.
You’re not supposed to play favorites with your children. You’re not supposed to make one feel inadequate compared to the others.
You can’t be in a room with your daughter and stepdaughters, and state that you spent the afternoon with your favorite daughters, when your own flesh and blood wasn’t one of them.
You shouldn’t pick or choose which children you give your love and energy to.
But you do.
You’ll argue with me on this, but it doesn’t matter. You refuse to see this, but this is how you make her feel.
Everyone compliments you on how you’re such a great father, how your family seems to have it all together. How you stepped up to the plate and gave those girls the dad they never had.
You win the father of the year award in those regards, at least in their eyes.
Little do they know, your own daughter feels left out because you’re not there when she needs you. Little do they know, you left your own daughter to be a dad to others.
You’re not around to fix her broken heart or wipe away the tears when another guy has come and gone and left her feeling like a lost 5-year-old girl. Again.
You’re not there for the big moments in life; you’re too busy for her. There’s always something else going on.
You don’t even call just to check in and see how she’s doing, or to tell her you’re proud of everything she is accomplishing.
She only gets attention when she hasn’t communicated with you in a while and you’re upset. Or you want something from her.
Life flashes by so quickly. The moments you’ve already lost, you can’t get back. It’s a tragedy because all she wanted was to know that she was loved by her father.
You didn’t even make her feel loved. Instead, you were the first man to break her heart and make her feel like she’s not enough.
You started the trend of her feeling like she’s not good enough. Every “man” that has come into her life has broken her heart and left, and it all started with you.
I feel sorry for you.
I feel sorry for you because, despite it all, she has turned into a fantastic young woman. You can’t take any credit for that.
I have no regrets. I have been by her side all along. In the end, the only person who is going to end up with regret is you.
She’s tried her hardest to be the daughter that she thought you deserved.
She tried so hard but in reality, all she needed was to be herself. Any good man, any real father, would have loved her with his entire self, just as she was.
But you? You are not a real father.
She should have been good enough for you. You didn’t deserve for her to chase you.
She’s done chasing you. She is growing up, strong and beautiful, and leaving you behind. She is leaving you behind the same way you left her behind.
I feel sorry for you.
“Behind every strong, independent woman lies a broken little girl who had to learn how to get back up and never depend on anyone.”