Fathers and their little girls...

The other day as i was leaving to go to the gym….i saw what appeared to be a grown woman walking, pulling a small suitcase and carrying a pillow and small toy animal. And me being the introverted person that i am (not) rolled my window down as i was passing by and in a kind of teasing way said, “are you running away from home”?  I could immediately see she was not too entertained by my comment! Kicking myself inside for having said anything. I could now see she was a young adolescent girl and she began to cry. She really was running away!  I hurriedly apologized for my silly comment and she began to pour her precious heart out to me.

Her father had passed away a year ago and this morning her mother had informed her she was changing her married name back to her maiden name. What her mother was considering doing was breaking this young girls heart.

I listened…she cried….I tried as best i could to offer solace.

….what I could see most was a sweet young girl missing her daddy!

I offered to turn around and invite her to sit awhile with me on my front porch. She was grateful but was going over a few streets to her uncles house. She knew by leaving her mothers, maybe her mom would realize how very upsetting her choice was to her. She  needed to be heard by her action.

As we were parting ways her mother pulled up behind me and smiled a kind smile in my direction…. as if to say from one mother to another, “thanks for caring.”

As i reflect back on this encounter I was reminded today how precious fathers are to their little girls….