In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons there is ambition; but in that to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express. – Joseph Addison
A buddy of mine told me earlier this week about how he’d recently dropped off a bouquet of flowers at his grown daughter’s apartment and what a big hit it was with her.
I was getting ready for the commute up to St. Paul yesterday, and it occurred to me to get some kind of Valentine’s gift for my 15 yr-old daughter. “Nah, I’m running late for work, I gotta get going. Well, maybe I have time, I could be a little late. Nah, I’ll do something for her later tonight.”
I got in my car and actually started driving out of town and then I thought, “What the hell, Cal did it, so can I.” I did a U-turn, drove to the grocery story and bought a helium Valentine thingy and a great little card, and then left it with one of her teacher’s at her school. [She goes to a small school and I knew she wouldn’t get crucified by her peers for getting a Valentine’s from her stupid ‘ol man.]
Several times during the day at work when I thought about what I did, I would smile quietly. I knew it wasn’t a big deal but I was proud of myself for having interrupted my natural tendency to not go out of my way. I think I got a bigger charge out of it than she did. She thanked me when I got home, assured me she wasn’t embarrassed, and that was about it. That didn’t bother me though, since it was one of those little private victories that really mattered to me.
I’m not sure about the quote, though. Am I more ambitious for my sons than my daughter? Maybe, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.