Dear Daddy, you are appreciated..

What would I have done without my dear old dad? Recently, my friend Jeremy claimed that, "You can tell alot about a girl based off the length of her nails, width of her heels, & volume she speaks of her father." To me, the volume in which a girl speaks of  her father determines the length of the nails and heels. Now obviously, this is just a metaphor for a greater concept. I can't speak on what it's like to grow up without a dad, because I had one. However, I do have many girlfriends who have grown up without a father, and I have seen the affects it has had on them.

 Growing up, my dad taught me to always respect myself. He taught me to have standards and hold men to higher expectations. Of course there have been times where I didn't listen and had to find out the hard way, that my dad knew what he was talking about. He's shown me how to be independent, and  he's shown me the way a man should treat a woman. I can only imagine what I would be like if he hadn't been there. Actually, I know exactly what I would've been like. I would've been like some of my girlfriends- The ones who sleep with just any guy, the ones who don't respect themselves, and the ones who let men treat them like crap because they haven't had a dad to demonstrate HOW a man should treat a woman. Don't get me wrong, not just women who have grown up without a father do these things. Many women who have grown up with both parents, do these things as well. However, I believe women without fathers are more susceptible to doing these kinds of things.

I really got to thinking... Not only about how an absent father affects a woman, but how it affects a man. Do men have daddy issues as well? For instance, a man that is raised by only his mother. How is he affected? How does he learn to do the manly things? Does his mom teach him, or does he simply learn on his own? If I was a single mom raising a son, I would know I couldn't teach him how to be a man. Only a man could do that. I could teach him to respect women and how to treat them, but that would only do so much. How does growing up with only a woman affect the way a man interacts with women when he is older?

I know what it's like not to have a parent growing up. Those of us who have grown up missing a mother or father know the emotional scars it can leave. No matter how much we say it doesn't bother us, deep down it truly does. I think that's why I'm so adamant about not having kids until I'm married. I want my kids to grow up with both parents. A mother who can teach her daughter how to be a woman, and a father who can teach his son how to be a man. The obvious is that both women and men are affected by the absence of a father. I applaud all the women who are father-less and have learned to conduct themselves in a respectable way. I have great respect for the men who learned how to be responsible and hard working without fathers.

From the bottom of my heart, I am thankful for my dad and everything he has done for me. At times, we have our moments but who doesn't? When I think about it, I'm grateful it was my mother that skipped out on me, instead of my dad. Thank You daddy, I love you..