Leaving the Nest

When I was a toddler I remember thinking that marrying a man other than my father wasn't an option.  While I couldn't exactly figure out how dad would be married to both me and mom, I figured this kind of thing just works out for all big girls.  As I got older, I realized that marrying my dad was just a dream that made me feel safe and sound and I started to wonder who I would marry and what I would look like as a young lady.  I remember trying very hard to imagine the day when, wearing a white dress and veil, I vowed to love and cherish a single man, who wasn't my father, forever and ever and with that became someone's wife.  Today I write this from the home that my husband and I have made together.  It sometimes seems so far away from the nest where I was raised, but at the same time I have made a new nest with a man who gives me the sense of being safe and sound.  What an essential role fathers play in the lives of their daughters and what an immense pursuit it must be to see a child through their development only to watch them leave just when they believe they are sturdy enough.  So, thank you, Dad, for seeing me through and holding my hand all the way down that aisle.