My earliest memories of dancing with my daughters started when I would come home from work to our small home in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and my daughter Laura was about 3 years old. It was very relaxing for me to crank up the stereo, pick up Laura in my arms, and dance her around the room!
Our family danced a lot while we were still a family, and the girls and I continued to dance on occasion after the girl’s mother and I divorced. One favorite memory I have of dancing with Laura and Anne was when I took each of them when they were seniors in high school to the Daddy-Daughter dance. We won both dance competitions!
A favorite memory I have of dancing with Amanda was when she took me to hear and dance to the Latin percussionist Pancho Sanchez in San Francisco. I danced with Amanda, and with an elderly lady sitting by the dance floor who was dying to dance. Amanda and I had a ball!
I was fortunate to marry another lady who also loved to dance, and who welcomed the girls when they came to live with us. While my wife Liz respected the importance of the girl’s mother in their lives, she has always been very supportive and a great mentor to my daughters!
As their father, I’ve tried to provide my daughters with:
a) Unconditional love, as my Mother provided to me.
b) 24/7 emotional and loving support
c) Good educations and life experiences which have helped prepare them for happy and successful adult lives.
d) Being a father who is worthy of their love and respect. I consider fatherhood a privilege, not an entitlement.
In 1994, my oldest daughter Laura gave me a lovely book, which I still have, entitled “fathers and daughters.” In it she inscribed the words “it’s a privilege to be your daughter.” Au contraire, dear daughters, it’s a privilege to be your father!
My Father’s Day suggestion to Dads is to dance with your daughters at every opportunity. It will not only bring you closer, it will give them memories of you “to hang onto” long after we are gone.
