Hannah’s Story. Chapter One Part Three.

Your Mom:  What do you remember about our first date and the day you fixed my car?

Your Dad:  Let me see…  you already explained it pretty well.  You need to clarify what I’m fixing.  I didn’t replace the power steering pump.  I replaced the pressure line which went into the power steering pump.

Your Mom:  Ummm… ok.  There’s a pressure line?   What were you looking for in a girl?

Your Dad:  I wanted a girl that was real from the very beginning.  I knew what she was about from the very beginning, I didn’t have to wonder.  I wanted someone who didn’t play games.  I didn’t want to wonder if I could or couldn’t call her or wondering if I was coming on too strong… no games.  After college I was done with the games.  That is what you said you noticed – you knew I wouldn’t play games.

Your Mom:  I know.  I loved that about you.  I knew I was getting the real thing and you weren’t pretending to be someone you weren’t.  What else were you looking for in a girl?

Your Dad:  I wanted someone who was hard working, educated, nurturing.  Someone that I could easily see being a mother.  I didn’t want to have to twist and turn things to see her being a mother.  I wanted to see it easily, and a good mother.

Your Mom:  One day when a young man comes to you and asks for Hannah’s hand in marriage, what do you want that young man to be like?

Your Dad:  I can’t put that into words.  A worthy Priesthood holder, worthy temple recommend holder.  I want him to be a man’s man.  A man that’s a leader, a man that is authoritative – not in a bossy way, but in a righteous way.  He doesn’t get pushed around or walked on, but he leads.   He stands up for what is right in sticky situations, even if it is going to make him look bad.  He needs to have a clear understanding of what right and wrong is.  Someone who can provide the life that she dreams of for her and her children.   He needs to be smart, educated, protective and wants to provide.  Someone that will fight for you, verbally and physically if needed.  Don’t be a coward.  He needs to stick up for the people he loves.

Your Mom:  So, Basically like you.  What do you want Hannah to know before she starts dating?

Your Dad:  She will already know what guys are good to date and what guys aren’t before she is of dating age.  She needs to know that when she is on the date, that she is always in control of the situation.  If a guy ever puts her in an uncomfortable situation, call me and I will come and get her.  She can tell the guy that she is calling her dad and that it is up to him if he wants to be there when he arrives.

Your Mom:  What do you want Hannah to know about herself?

Your Dad:  That she is my daughter and even above that, that she a daughter of Heavenly Father.

Your Mom:  What do you want the young men to understand about her?

Your Dad:  That she has a dad that will protect her under any circumstance and destroy them if they ever hurt her.  The boys that are taking her on a date need to think of the women in his life that he respects the very most and put her in that role, and treat her that way.

Your Mom:  How did you feel the first time you held Hannah?

Your Dad:  Overwhelmed.  I will never forget her coming out of your belly (C-Section).  The doctors pulled her out feet first.  I was surprised how little she cried.  When she first came out, she made a little peep, and then they took her into the back room and gave her a shot, an immunization of something and she hardly cried then.  She was well behaved from the very beginning.  I was thankful that she had her mom’s temperament and not mine.

Your Mom:  She does hardly ever cry.  What are you most afraid of about fatherhood?

Your Dad:  Providing everything that she wants and needs.

Your Mom:  She will always get what she wants and needs.

Your Dad:  Her needs will always be met.  But I want her wants to be met too.

Your Mom:  What is the best thing about being Hannah’s dad?

Your Dad:  When she smiles and when she sleeps on my chest.  It makes me want to be a better father and a better person.