Giving Away A Daughter

It happens to most fathers with daughters, I guess, but it's never happened to me before.  It's going to happen to me today.

Becky was one of those girls who dated a lot of different guys.  I remember quite distinctly her first date.  She was sixteen years old, and came to me while I was working on a computer program in our den.

"Dad, is it OK if I go to the movies with Chris?" (note here.  Chris is probably not his real name.)

"When did Chris ask you to go to the movies?"

"He hasn't.  I'm going to call him and tell him to take me."

Chris came, introduced himself, announced that I'd be seeing a lot more of him, took Becky to the movies, brought her home, and I never saw him again.

That's pretty much how it was from then on.  Becky has always been a person to know exactly what she wants, and won't settle for anything less until she gets it.  I knew she was that way when I took her shopping for boots when she was in high school, wandering from store to store in the mall, sorting through boots that looked perfectly fine to me but not to Becky.  On to the next store.  Exasperated, I demanded that she buy a pair of boots.  Fine, she said, and she did.  She never wore them.

Little did I know that she would be the same way when it came to men.  She dated many before deciding that a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle and pretty much stopped dating.

As a father, this was all fine by me.  Becky is a successful engineer and earns a good living.  She bought a townhouse and was quite content with her life.  And then she met Rick.

Stepping into father mode, I asked for his background check, drug tests, and financial statements.  And does he drive a cool car?  Well, actually, he does drive two cool cars, an Acura RL and a Miata.  I never did get the background check or the financial statements, but Becky did say that he's studying for his drug tests.

So the wedding is in a few hours.  Rick's family seems very nice, so I guess since the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Rick is a nice guy too.

And if Becky put half as much consideration of a husband as she did in those boots in high school, I guess she landed the perfect guy for her.

I recommended that instead of Becky taking  Rick's last name, Rick change his last name to Gibson.  Maybe add some flash to it, as in Rockin' Rick Gibson.  That didn't fly at all.  I guess what I think really doesn't matter.  Becky is going to do what she will when she knows what she wants.

Well, congratulations to my lovely, wonderful daughter.  "You're not losing a daughter, you're gaining a son", they say.  A son with two cool cars and a perfect 300 bowling ring from the PBA.  And whom I think must be a pretty savvy guy when he told me that he bought Becky's ring and then got the hell out of the way and let Becky arrange everything.  Smart.  It took me years to figure that out.