October 10, 2013
Marriage of a Child Hurts Mom or Dad More?

Dr. Laura,

I recently heard you say you believe a mom hurts more than a dad when the child moves on to the marriage phase.  I'm not sure I agree. I gave my daughter to her new man about a month ago. I had four or five REALLY good opportunities to "fall apart" and a history of doing just that, but held it together. I picked a song for the DJ to play for the father/daughter dance, Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman, which is a song that I ALWAYS cry to when I hear it. Dad did great and dipped the girl at the end as well.

Early in the day, I asked the soon to be son-in-law if he had any idea why this was the toughest day of my life. "You are giving away your daughter?" I replied, "That is only a part of it really. Until today, I had been responsible for her care, safety and nurture. Today, I turn that job over to you. God bless you, but please understand that I have very high standards. Yes, my daughter is beautiful. But I also have a gun, a shovel and an alibi. Take good care of my little girl."

Thank you for all that you do.

Mike


Posted by Staff at 11:34 AM