The Little Girl is Gone

I talk to a lot of dads of little girls and listen to them tell me stories of how they’re the “man” in their little girls’ lives. And there’s no better feeling than being just that.
But there eventually comes a day when you as the “man” are replaced by the man who will ultimately take her hand and (hopefully) spend the rest of his life with her. That day came this past week.

Actually it started during the Giants/Cardinals game during a commercial. What better way is there for men to bond than during a football game….and what better time is there to pop the question than during a “time out”. When I was asked by my daughter’s boyfriend, “…I need to ask you something when the ladies aren’t around”, I guess you could say I saw it coming. And what was that thing that I saw?

All those years flashed before my eyes. Like when I remember my daughter’s birth..and how in shock I was at witnessing it….and how, when I had my mother-in-law on the phone, I said to her, “…and she looks just like you!” Ok, I was in shock, what do you want from me?
There was the time, when she was one year old and I thought she could brave one of the water slides at Busch Gardens down in Tampa. I held her on my chest as we went barreling down the slide thinking all the while, “…oh boy, I’m gonna wind up drowning this kid”….only to hit the water and have my daughter squeal with glee! I could never forget her chasing after seagulls on Clearwater Beach, and her fascination with them…calling out to them, “buhd…buhd”…which was her way of saying “bird”.

Too many other things flood my mind. Taking her to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, “Tire Park” on Shore Road, bringing her to school in the morning with her friends, checking out colleges, and finally her moving into her own place in Hoboken.

I look for that kid, and all I see is the woman she’s become….and the lucky guy that will have her as part of his family in the very near future.

If you happen to be one of those dads…..you’ll never need a camera, a diary, or anything like that to document any of it. It will be embedded in your brain….just like all of those moments are embedded in my brain. It’s a great feeling to live through all of them….and if you’re lucky, you’ll recognize them for what they are and appreciate the fact that you too will be wondering, one day, where did that little girl go?