When daughters break your heart...

It is said that a son gives man immortality but a daugher makes a man complete.

The relationship of a father to his daugher is one of those unique loves that transcend life. Or as Addison points out so eloquently "Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express."

It has always surprised me that despite this, most men hanker for sons rather than daughters. The proliferation of clinics that determine the sex of the new born is a frustrating illustration of this strange phenomenon. In most countries, the ratio of males to females is heavily tilted in favour of the male sex. If more men were only to know the joy that a daughter will bring to their lives, perhaps there will be less need of these clinics.

For truly " a daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future."

As you grow older, the truism of this saying becomes even more acute. Yet is not all roses either. However old you may be, there will be some events you will always remember, and more than most, it will be the times your daughter broke your heart!

As when you were away for a few days on work and returned home and your three year old came running to the door and hugged you with all her might and cried triumphantly " Daddy is back"...

Or when she is pining in her room, with dark music playing, waiting for a boy to call to take her out to the prom and the call never comes...

Or when she goes for her first job and returns home downcast as she had not performed as well as she expected and the job of her dreams was floating away..

Or when she announces that she hates her job and life...

Or when she wants to quit her job but does not know what she wants to do with her life ..

Or when she is not succeeding in her search for a partner...

Or when she breaks up with her partner and thinks the world has come to an end..

Or when she rails at the unfairness of life at the poverty she sees around her and feels she can do nothing about it...

Or when she is at a crossroads in her life and is confused and angry and helpless. Yet you know that she must make her own life and her own decisions and so needs standy by helplessly as she finds her way. For a father there is no greater pain than to watch any pain inflicted on his daughter and being unable to help...

The truth is a " daughter may outgrow your lap but she will never outgrow your heart". And she will break your heart all your life but no father I know would have it any other way, ever.