My Daughter Taught Me This About Women

Last Fall, my daughter Gabrielle married Anthony.
According to custom, the reception included the Daddy-Daughter Dance.
Gabrielle’s beauty was pure, arresting, stunning (and she wasn’t wearing an ounce of make-up).

I had given her away.
And yet, she was mine, for one final moment, for one last dance.

The venue was packed with people.
But, while we danced, we were the only ones in the room.
Holding one another, swaying to the music, foreheads pressed together, our eyes closed.

She began to shake.
Almost convulsing.

She was crying.
She tried to hold back the tears.
She held me tighter.

She loves her dad.

We continued to dance; foreheads pressed together—eyes shut.
I noticed flashing lights.
Repeatedly.
I opened my eyes and discovered girls, young ladies and moms holding out their smart phones, taking pictures of Gabby and me.

Then I noticed something else.

Gabby wasn’t the only one crying.
The girls, young ladies and mom’s taking the photos were crying too—
some holding onto each other as they were crying.

I realized something about women.

It may be that every young girl longs for prince charming to come and carry her away.
But she also wants her father to be the one who holds on to her—
just enough—who reluctantly gives her away.

A little girl wants her daddy to delight in her as she dances for him.
A daughter wants her dad to delight in her as she dances with him.

Inside every woman is a desire that men cannot comprehend.
Regardless of age, she will always be the little girl who wants her daddy’s delight and love.

… Because she wants God the Father’s love.

Devin Schadt | Executive Director of the Fathers of St. Joseph

Ite ad Joseph