WHEN
TIME FLIES
By: Steven Cruz
June 2002
I am no longer the man she adores, no
longer her favorite guy. Gone are the days when I was the only member
of the human male species she wanted to hug and kiss. No more good
night kisses for me. It just occurred to she's no longer the baby
girl I want her always to be.
One Sunday afternoon, while preparing
for mass, I noticed my daughter go from her room to our full-length
mirror several times. For what seemed like one whole hour, she kept
standing there staring at herself, checking her clothes and her shoes
as she brushed her hair. Apparently not content, she rushed back to
her room to change to another outfit.
As I passed her in the hall,
I noticed something on her face: MAKE-UP! I couldn't believe my fifteen
year old daughter was wearing make-up!? I felt disoriented as I asked
my wife if what I thought I saw was really what I saw! My wife just
shrugged it off with sly grin. I could have sworn she was amused!
As I thought of it later that night, it suddenly occurred to me the
reason she begged me to put an extension phone in her room was so
she can stealthily entertain calls from B-O-Y-S -- you know, crazy
undesirable creatures from another planet, out to steal my baby!
I started making rules - no hourly phone calls (whether finished with
school work or not), exclusive-for-girls group dates, Cinderella curfews.
I even bought her a small television for her room - anything just
to keep her mind off the phone, off parties, and most especially,
OFF B-O-Y-S.
It worked …. for a day or two, that is! My rules were
broken, ignored as though they were never there at all.
I disconnected
her extension line after hearing her on the phone (NOTE: with a boy)
at three in the morning. Discoveries indeed await those who grope
for nature's relief in the wee hours of the morning!
But nothing I
did stopped this creature from stalking my baby girl. I only realized
later, much to my dismay, that this particular creature was already
my baby's boyfriend!
I could not come to terms with what was happening
to youngest child - did my only daughter, my baby girl, became a woman
overnight? Make-up, midnight calls, boyfriends… it was all happening
too quickly.
I felt powerless as I could not stop time and nature
from transforming my baby girl into a lovely woman. Neither could
I stop the strange creature from loving her. I tried to find solace
in my wife, as she assured me that she was in with our baby in this
relationship as well, monitoring her actions and decisions. I put
my trust in her, and pretended to keep my hands off their little love
affair. (I kept track quietly, of course).
Time flew, more quickly
than I imagined, faster than I wanted it to.
Today, my one and only
daughter is getting married to her boyfriend of eight years. I'm giving
her away to that creature, who did not turn out to be so bad, after
all. Although I know for a fact that he (nor any other guy in this
whole world, for that matter) can never be good enough for my daughter,
I see the man truly loves my daughter, and that is well enough for
me to trust that she is in good hands.
As I watched her get ready
for her wedding, special moments with my daughter played in my mind.
Time does fly fast. Though I am no longer the only man in her life,
I will always find comfort in the thought that I helped nurture her
into the fine woman she is.
After all, I AM her father. Nobody can
change that.
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