I think of that quote every time I see Ben and Hazel together. They don’t share the same DNA yet they are truly Daddy and Daughter in every sense of the words. When Ben comes to pick up Hazel at the end of the day she runs to him with open arms squealing “Daddy!”. He has taught her how to say her ABCs. He holds he close and comforts her when she has bad dreams. He didn’t have nine months to prepare. He didn’t take any classes on how to be a father. He discovered the how-to of parenting like most parents have…by doing…by getting up every day and taking care of the child, meeting her most basic of needs, playing with her, reading to her, singing and dancing with her, loving her unconditionally especially when she is her most unlovable as toddlers sometimes can be…and by changing more than his fair share of poopy diapers.

Ben figured out very quickly that in order to be a great father, to be a Daddy, he must be present and active all the time in Hazel’s life. It is so much more than the mixing of a couple’s DNA, much more than giving a total of 15 hours of your time during her last 24 months of life, so much more than taking multiple cell phone pictures of the product of your DNA to show off to your buddies.

Thank you, Ben. Thank you for choosing to be a father. Thank you for choosing to be Hazel’s Daddy. Thank you for being exactly the kind of father that Hazel needs.

Originally posted at Adventures in Juggling