What’s Your Favorite Father–Daughter Memory?

My father taking me to Israel when I was 13 in 1973. It changed my life in the most wonderful way, and I remember it all like it was yesterday! I became an Israeli citizen in 1979 and served in the Israeli Army 1984-86; the look of joy on his face when he saw me in uniform for the first time and proudly said "my daughter outranks me!" (I was a Sgt., and he'd been a Private in the US Army following WWII) I will NEVER forget! He also made it possible for me to travel through Europe and study fine art in Italy- a country he loved- when I was in college, and that was life-changing for me, too, as I'm an illustrator and watercolorist by profession.

As a father my most cherished memory is when my daughter and I looked at wife/mother - then looked at each other and said " she be crazy" and packed our bags and moved out. Every day after that too.

My most cherished memory of my day is from when I was probably 7 or 8 years old. I had a set of small bunk beds for my baby dolls. The beds had cheap plywood bottoms. I "accidentally" popped one of them out. I thought I had broken the bed. I was beside myself. I found my dad on the back porch. He put me up on the washer, put the bed up on the dryer, and said "baby, don't worry about it. I'll fix it. That's what Daddy's are for...to fix things." And he fixed it. It was a moment of pure elation for me. He proceeded to do that for the rest of his life...fix things for us girls, his two daughters. I miss him.

When I was 18 I wanted to move out. I had a friend who needed a roommate (because she'd driven the other one away with her craziness) and I wanted to spread my wings after graduation. My mom was worried and angry and gave me dozens of valid reasons why it wasn't a good idea. I had no car, I wouldn't be able to save money, my friend had proved her flakiness a few times, But in the end, my dad took me aside and we talked. "I can do it!" I exclaimed when he said it wasn't a great idea. "I know you can. I know you can do anything you set your mind to. But I would miss you." The way he said it made me realize that I was too young for him to feel right about my leaving and that even if I was ready, he was not. And I knew I would miss Dad, and Mom and my siblings, too. I stayed home and never regretted my decision. I moved out when I was ready to be on my own and starting my own new life with a good job and a future with my fiance.

I have hundreds of memories. But my favorites were two routines we established when I was a girl. I use to shave my dad. I'd sit on his big belly and tell him about my day while delicate shaving his beard. I got very good at it. The other was waking up at 4:30am (my dad worked in the oil field and had long days), getting coffee with cream (mostly cream), a section of the newspaper, and sitting with him until I feel back to sleep or he left talking about "politics" and asking him tons of questions about what he was reading and why things happened in the government. My dad always had me on scavenger missions because some questions he would not answer...he would tell me to look them up.

I'm an academic librarian today :)

I remember the weighted scuff of his size 13 Brogues on the stairs in the evening as he came up to say good night. Four young girls in two small rooms, we would wait for his footsteps and duck under the covers, excited as all get out, in anticipation of the tickling that lay ahead. In silent delirium we would lie motionless, listening to squeals of delight raising the bar. We were hysterical before our tickling even started. We’d roll and twist and kick and turn unable to escape those gentle giant hands and hoping we'd never have to.

Some of my earliest memories are of my dad laying out blankets, picnic-style, in the middle of our living room just after the ten o'clock news with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, making Jiffy Pop popcorn and tuning into "When Movies, Were Movies" on Channel 9, and watching classic movies together, late at night, long after my bedtime.

From The Women with Norma Shearer ("Jungle Red"), Rosalind Russell and Joan Crawford, to Father of the Bride with Spencer Tracey And Elizabeth Taylor (love the remake with Steve Martin), to my personal favorite, Porgy & Bess (the only time that it was ever shown on television).

My memories of the soulfulness of Dorothy Dandridge's Bess, the diabolicalness of Sportin Life (Sammy Davis Jr.) and Poitier's wheelchair bound Porgy, were all created in moments of wide-eyed wonder watching movies with my dad. Still love those movies to this day and when insomnia gets the best of me, I go back to the classics, remember and miss my dad very, very much.

My brother and I were 6 and 7 and my older sisters were having a garage sale. They sat us at the table with chips, dip and a sandwich and went back outside. We had the best and uninterrupted food fight you've ever seen.

My sisters came in and marched us to our room for the rest of the day. I heard the fighting, yelling, and telling when my dad got and I KNEW I was in big trouble. So he comes to our room, closes the door, and asks if we had a food fight. We told him "yep" . I think he may even have asked us if it was fun. So he says rather loudly well, I guess I'm going to have to spank you then. He put his finger to his lips and said shhh! Took out a book and smacked it a couple of times with his hand loudly and told my brother and I to cry. Put the book away and that was the end of that.

My dad & I have always been close. I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with him when I was growing up since he worked nights as a musician & my mom worked days. There was a happy balance in our household. My dad very approachable about anything I wanted or needed to know in life, much more so than my friends' fathers. I remember the day of my prom, he was headed to the store & asked if I needed anything. I gave him a list, including panty hose, deep hair conditioner, & a particular shade of lipstick. Taskmaster that he was, he got it done without any complaints. There's a special bond between Daddies & their little girls that spans an entire lifetime.

Sometimes I would fall asleep curled up in his arms while we were watching TV. I never felt so safe.