This is a subject that is very near and dear to my heart. I lost my father suddenly, when I was 14 years old. He was pretty young when he died. He was only 49 years old. My father raised me and my sister to know that we were loved by him and that we were special. When he brought my mother gifts on Valentine’s Day, he also brought something for my sister and I. He wanted us to know how our future husbands should be treating us. He was a very involved father, so when my sister started dating, he gave her boyfriend the “talk”. “The talk” didn’t intimidate my sister’s boyfriend but my father and her boyfriend actually became quite close. My father passed away before I was allowed to date, so none of my boyfriends got “the talk”.

I often think about the fact that my father wasn’t there to give any of my boyfriends “the talk”. I wonder, would I have married my ex-husband if my father was still alive? I was his baby girl and definitely valued his opinion. I trusted his instincts. If he said my ex-husband wasn’t the one, I believe I would have listened. My father was so influential to everyone around him. That makes me believed if did happen to approve of my ex-husband, he would have been able to have a positive influence on him.

As a woman, I definitely think that having your father in your life can influence and effect the success of your relationship. A father should be their daughter’s first example of how she should be treated in a relationship. A father that really loves his daughter plants the seeds in her of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable treatment.