sassysage's Blog

i admit proudly that i am a daddy’s girl.   i remember as a young girl flying into his arms and he would pick me up and look into my eyes with love.    

i have so many memories of my dad going to my school productions and awards ceremonies.  most of the time, he was the only man around. it’s still a running joke amongst my old friends, how he would pull out his camera and the flash would blind the whole crowd.  there was no doubt in my mind that my dad was supportive of his little girl.  

we would have long discussions about the state of world affairs.  the nerd girl in me would be so excited that i could debate with a grown up.  to this day, i am grateful for him acknowledging my voice.  he is my rock and my hero.    he taught me that men respect and honor women, so his expectations of the guys i would date were super high!  thanks to his disapproving eye, i dodged many bad love matches.  

as i have grown into a woman, i see how similar we are.  he loves people and so do i.  he loves different cultures and i live for new travel adventures.   he loves baking and i’m starting to put a dent in my oven skills:)   i CANNOT imagine my life without him growing up and now.

in my work with girls/young women, i realize there are so many of you living without your fathers.  some of you know who they are, some of you don’t.  some of you act like it doesn’t matter, some of you are clear there’s a hole in your heart.  

i could jot down some psycho jumbo about the wounds of childhood traumas, but the reality is that being without a father has never been my experience. i’m not going to pretend i know what it feels like.  

but there is one thing i know for sure; not having a good relationship with your father is a significant factor in your life.   you gotta take some time to think about it and get some ideas about the best ways to move forward.

that’s why i’m glad Oprah and her tv network OWN has decided to take on the issue and talk to girls/women who do not have fathers in their lives.   i’m looking forward to watching the special discussion about fatherless daughters on OWN tv tomorrow night (July 14th) 9pm (EST).  

i’m also very happy to see she will be airing an amazing documentary by Kobie Brown called From Fatherless to Fatherhood.  i saw a special screening of this film last year.  it is an uplifting showcase of fathers, like mine, who are there for their children.   i hope those stories can be an inspiration to fathers to better their relationship with their daughters. 

let us know what you think…  what does your father mean to you?  do you want to create a better relationship with him?