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Daddy's Little Girl

© Nancy Coulter

This article is just one of many that you can find on Suite101.com for Father's Day. Be sure to check out the Father's Day special event page for more articles about fathers.

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Who is the one man that a little girl can always count on to make things better? Daddy of course. He is the hero in every girl's heart. He is the man that every girl grows up trusting. In his daughter's eyes, daddy dearest can do no wrong.

Up until I reached the age of 11, my father stood up on that daddy dearest pedistol. After he left my mother, daddy came crashing down and I have tried everything in my power to build him back up. Every girl wants to believe in her father. It is one of the reasons girls who suffer through abuse have such a hard time admitting that their father is hurting them. This man is your father and you are supposed to be the apple of his eye.

The relationship that a girl has with her father is the foundation for future relationships with any man. My relationship with my father is the perfect example of that. Ever since the day he sat down with my brothers and me to let us know that he was "leaving for a little while," I haven't been able to trust him. This has grown into a general distrust for any man. In my mind, if my father can hurt me as much as he did when he left my mother, then what is stopping any other man from hurting me? Nothing is. I try to trust every man who comes into my life, but when I open myself up, that little 11-year-old girl who cried herself to sleep for years because daddy left her comes back and says "No! Don't let him hurt you too! Don't let him in!" And once again, I'm caught up in the pain that my father left deep in my heart and soul. I've been lucky that I have met men in my life who were understanding of my past and gave me time to feel "safe" with them.

Although I have had such a rough past with my father, it hasn't stopped me from trying to make a good relationship with him now. After all, he is my father. I know that deep down, he does love me because I am his little girl. He may constantly disappoint me by making promises he can't keep, but I'll always put forth some kind of effort to have a "normal" relationship with my father. I'm not the only one like this. Many women spend most of their adult life trying to have a decent relationship with their father - in an effort to make up for something from their childhood. Women want that unconditional love from their fathers so that they can feel completely comfortable with other men. A woman's love for men begins and ends with her daddy. He may give her away when she gets married, but she never really gives herself away from that bond she has with her father.

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