My Daughter

My Daughter.
By
Bill Graham

As a young man your thoughts are usually in the future, marriage, a family and of course a son. Well I suppose a man sort of expects to have a son sooner or later. A son who he will hold in his arms, a son that will bear his name. A son that will look over new mountains, sail over new seas. Yes, a man expects to have a son.

But a daughter, well that’s the lotto jackpot, the roll over prize, the extra dividend, the big bonus.

I suppose a new son would be awesome to a new father, but a daughter is
downright frightening. A man could hold a tiny son in his arms and know that he holds a known quantity, a male like himself.

But a daughter? Ah… a daughter is different. She is mystery and enchantment and magic and fantasy all rolled up in a small strange little package.

A man could feel secure with a son in his arms. But a baby daughter brings tears to his eyes and gives him a feeling of a new and powerful responsibility. A son is someone a man can walk through the hills with, go fishing, and kick balls. A man knows that someday a son will venture out on his own and make his mark on the world.

But a daughter? That’s different. A man has to protect a daughter, shield a
daughter, cuddle a daughter and keep her safe to the day he dies. A man expects to have a son or sons. Daughters are a delightful surprise. They arrive in the world with a loud squall, mad eyes and angry feet. A man is filled with awe. When he first holds a daughter in his arms his first thoughts are that she is so small and the world is so big.

After all a man can understand a son, because a son will think like a man, reacts like a man; a son holds no mystery to a man. But daughters have strange pools of magic in their eyes and no matter how deep he may probe he can never reach the bottom. She is a very strange new toy.

A son is scuffed shoes, uncombed hair and dirty ears. A daughter is frilly frocks and ribbons, dancing shoes… Dolls…Bears bracelets and rings. Shrills shrieks and
giggles.

A son will be sure and confident; he’ll swagger through the young years, supreme and confident that a large part of the world will be his. But a daughter, she needs hugs and kisses, reassurance. She has to be needed and wanted and loved the livelong day.

When a man holds a son in his arms, he holds destiny, history and the future of the world. But when he holds a daughter in his arms, he holds love and beauty and all that can be good in the world. Yes, I think everyman should have a daughter.

Bill Graham