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FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS:



This section is not about us. It's something I'd like to say to you, based on my perspective and experience of a father-daughter relationship. This was the first recording I made, a couple of days after we last spoke, when things you'd said were fresh in my mind. Maybe it will mean nothing, but I wanted to let you know some thoughts I have, in case it can help you.

If you choose not to listen, but do read this, the main points are: 1) in my experience, the most precious memories do not always come from what you might expect - I guarantee that you'll have created lasting memories for your daughter without even trying, without even realising, and 2) when she does embark on a life of her own, you'll still be everything to her that you always have been - that does not change.



(In retrospect, I'd now say some things differently. I mainly focus on trying to reassure you about your daughter's memories, when I recognise you may also wish you had certain ones. I get tearful at the end, and I annoy even myself - it was partly from memories and partly from pain at the time of recording. Around the 1-minute mark, in a story about my wedding day that's related to my father, it may also appear that I don't understand that love isn't ``just a feeling'' - I do. Love is a commitment, action, choice. I was committed in my marriage, and I would not have ended it. But, I hadn't yet encountered the intensity that I now know I'm capable of feeling, and I wouldn't now settle for less. )

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