Daddy Issues (Published Happily Here with the Blessing of my Dad)
When I watched my Dad walk someone else’s daughter partway down the aisle at her wedding, it felt a bit like all of the scoops of ice cream from my childhood had fallen onto the dusty ground with an unceremonious splat. Suddenly I was filled with a completely surprising emotion: jealousy. Someone else was holding my single scoop of mint chocolate chip, and I was nine years old again, sitting amongst the congregants, holding an empty cone and feeling completely, unexpectedly bereft. This sadness sneaked up on me when I saw another young bride, not me, with her arm through my Dad’s arm on her wedding day, and this image crystallized how much my Dad and I both missed out on. I feel compelled to say that I harbor absolutely no ill feelings toward my step sisters. They are both incredibly lovely people. It is a simple fact of circumstance that they both probably know my Dad better than I do. They have both spent much more time ...