No Father on Fathers Day

Being without a Dad for most of my life has been something I've learned to adjust to. No, my father isn't dead, he just has not been in the picture since I was 13 years old, and even when he was he wasn't the ideal father. I hate the term "Daddy issues", but that is exactly what I have. If you are a girl you need your Dad to teach you how the men in your life are suppose to treat you, and if your own Dad doesn't build you up, and treat you like a princess then you are bound to grow up thinking that's how all men are going to treat you. I'm pretty sure my Dad wanted a boy, so he treated me like one until my brother was born, but by that time I was already molded.

I was such a tomboy growing up I was even mistaken by some people as being a boy. I'm sure the boys clothes, sneakers, and bike I rode didn't help. I loved watching westerns with John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. I absolutely loved the movie, The good, the bad, and the ugly. All of the Dirty Harry movies were a must see at least once a year. My Dad even taught me how to box. What a big mistake that was, by the time I was 12 I had to wear a cast that whole summer because I punched a boy in the face for picking on my little brother. When my hand swelled two sizes the next day, I told my Dad I fell off some park bleachers. He took me to the doctor to get my hand x-rayed, and the doctor told my Dad there was no way she got this by falling off bleachers. This is a boxers fracture.

When I finally started looking like a girl I think it freaked my Dad out. He didn't have a clue what to do with a teen daughter, and I'm pretty sure that's when our relationship went bad. To make a very long story short I left the house I lived in with my father at the age of 13 and never really looked back. Since then I have had some really great male role models in my life whom I would be proud to have called my Dad. Do I miss not having a Dad around? No, not really, but when I see men who are great fathers, especially if they have daughters, it does put a smile on my face and makes me think what lucky little girls they are.