Every Father wants to be in his daughter’s life.
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What do I say to someone who feels that her heart has been literally ripped out of the cavity of her chest? What can I say to ease the deep pain of a shattered heart—a pain that reverberates through your soul—a pain that greets you every morning when you wake up? The deep hurt that was inflicted upon you was unintentional. There are two people in pain. You and your Father.
Every daughter wants and needs to hear her Father whisper, “I love you!”—three words that affirm her. . . three words that tell her she matters. Had you heard those words from him during your journey from childhood to womanhood, it would have made a positive impact upon your life.
Every Father wants to be in his daughter’s life. The decisions and mistakes that your Father made robbed him of the chance to love and care for you. He is wrestling with the decisions and mistakes he made as a young man that made it difficult—if not impossible—for him to love, nurture, and mentor you. He is wrestling with the fact that he was not there to hear you talk about your first day at school, to plan birthday parties for you and watch you blow out the candles on your birthday cakes, and to watch you blossom into the beautiful woman that have become. And yes, you are beautiful. Beauty is within, not without. Circumstances and decisions beyond your control and which you had nothing to do with, prevented him from telling you how much he loved you and affirming you.
Why is he pushing you away?
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But that was the past. Let’s talk about NOW . . . TODAY. If you think your Father does not think about you … does not love you . . . does not recognize your existence, you are wrong. I understand that you cannot see or believe this. Your Father loves you and cares about you deeply. And when he thinks and speaks about you, his eyes sparkle, and a smile illuminates his face. So, why doesn’t he show it? Why does he act as if you don’t exist? Why is he pushing you away? Because he does not know how to tell you that he loves you and cares about you deeply. Your Father wants to be a part of your life. He just does know how to do that. You will have to teach him how to do that.
While you and your Father cannot change the past, the two of you can do something about the present and the future. I know that you are hurting, but you must find it within your heart to forgive him. Forgiveness is not about him, it is about YOU. Forgiveness is your path to healing . . . to fulfilling your destiny on this earth . . . and to being the vibrant, brilliant, and beautiful person that you truly are. Forgiveness is the path to helping your Father become a part of your life — something that you both desperately want and need.
There is a void in your life and in your Father’s life. He needs you just as much as you need him. If you want your Father in your life, it will be up to you to go get him and bring him into your life. Find him—send him an e-mail, call him—tell him that you forgive him . . . that you love him . . . that you need him . . . and that he needs you. If he does not answer, don’t pull away. Flood his mail box with birthday cards, Father’s Day cards, Valentine Cards, and “I Love You Dad” notes. Continue to shower him with telephone calls, voice mail messages, text messages, e-mail messages, and TWEETs that tell him:
“Dad, I forgive you. I love you. I need you. I am here for you.”
Photo: Alyssa L. Miller/Flickr
Um… some of this I get and I think it can be important for daughters to reach out to absent fathers but there can be a lot of problems with this as well. I had a terrible and abusive father who was absent much of the time and the little we did talk, he blamed me for not having a good relationship with him. I don’t think people always know how much girls blame themselves for their father’s bad choices and behavior. And for my own daughter, her dad left us when i was 4 months pregnant. He didn’t just… Read more »
Jennifer, thank you for reading my essay and for your comments regarding my essay, “Letters To A ‘Fatherless’ Daughter”. A private and offline discussion between the two of us would be the best forum for exploring your thoughts about my essay. I await a private offline discussion with you which can be achieved by e-mailing me at: [email protected]. In the interim, I feel it is worth noting that the essay is based on an actual event. Several years ago, I was asked to intercede in a father-daughter relationship which was estranged. The daughter was “acting out” because she believed her… Read more »
Diane, I think you need to be very, very careful here in directing hurt, lonely, and disconnected daughters to their fathers. You are making a massive assumption in saying they are struggling and need them to reach out. Some fathers are not at all in the struggle. Some never wanted nor choose to be dads. We know so many awesome dads here at GMP but DNA does not turn someone into a father. Sending a hurt daughter to a disconnected dad is huge set-up for both and is hugely irresponsible. You have no way of knowing who the man is… Read more »