I remember the first time I danced with a boy. I was eight years old and I had on the prettiest dress I could find. I giggled as I twirled around and around and was thrown in the air and tickled playfully. I smiled at the corsage on my wrist as he held me up to his shoulders while we slow danced. My date took my hand as we left the ballroom, out into the parking lot. I looked up at my dad, reflecting on how much fun we had at my first Daddy-Daughter Dance, realizing how much he loved me and what it truly meant to be a daddy’s girl.

My dad has always been my role model and I think every girl should potentially have the same opportunity in her father. Dads have a way of protecting their daughters while at the same time letting their girls learn for themselves. If there is one thing I have learned from mine that I know I will take with me for the rest of my life is to make my choices based on what is best for myself and no one else and to never give up on something that I know I want.

Every girl needs this driving force in their life; someone to keep pushing her forward, but to catch her if she falls back. Who knows a girl’s strength better than the strong man who’s been there for her entire life? The paternal strength of a dad is there to support her when she’s right, argue with her to show her when she’s wrong and love her unconditionally in the end when they remain in disagreement. Because of this, I have found that it’s not the fights that I get in with my dad that I remember, it’s all the things that he fought for, for me. My dad works late hours at the office to support the things that I do and takes important work hours off to watch me do those things. I can count on him to have the loudest voice at my athletic events and the most sincere hugs when life gets overwhelming. This is what a dad should mean to every girl.

I question the person I would be today, had I not grown up in a household with such a reliable, consistent father figure. A dad’s tough love is the best preparation a girl can receive for the real world. My own has shown me how to fend for myself because there won’t always be someone there to help me. I have learned a great deal from his dedication to me, as well. Because of him, I know the importance of loyalty and how much I should embody and value it. My dad has never let me down and because of my admiration for this, I hope to do the same for others in my life. A dad is also there to help his daughter get through the negative aspects of life.

When I make mistakes, my dad has always helped me realize what I should’ve done and to help me deal with the consequences, even if he defines them. This aspect of fatherly love is one that I have grown to appreciate more recently, because no one is perfect and through leading by an understanding example, my dad has helped me accept this. This is what a dad should mean to every girl.

I only hope that every girl can have the chance to experience and realize the amazing bond that exists between father and daughter. Any father figure existing in a girl’s life is the biggest advantage she could ever have. The strong supportive force in my life has always been my dad; whether cheering for me, fighting for me, correcting me, or laughing at me, everything he does is for my benefit. I have learned all I could need to know from one man, from that first dance dedicated to this very relationship, to our next. The dance when he’ll twirl me around once again on the night I begin my own life that he worked the entirety of his own to prepare me for. This is what a dad should mean to every girl.