02/23/2025
To my sweet Ella, in these difficult times 🧡
I was there the first time you opened your eyes,
blinking up at me like you already knew
that I would be your safe place,
your steady hands,
your first and forever home.
From the moment you could stand,
you have run toward the world,
arms wide, heart open,
believing in its goodness
before it ever had the chance to prove you wrong.
And I have let you run,
cheering you forward
even as my heart ached
knowing that one day,
someone will try to tell you
to be smaller, quieter, less.
They will try to rewrite your story
before you ever get to hold the pen.
They will silence your name,
erase your victories,
push you into the margins
like the countless women before you.
Let them try.
Because I will teach you how to be louder.
I will teach you how to take up space,
how to plant your feet and raise your voice,
how to fight for what is yours
with the fire of every woman
who refused to be forgotten.
I will be there when they call you too much,
when they tell you no,
when they try to clip your wings.
I will stand beside you,
holding you up until you remember
that you were born to fly.
When you were small, I carried you.
As you are growing, I will walk beside you.
When you are grown, I will fight beside you,
not because you need me to,
but because love does not step aside
when the world is unkind.
You are my daughter.
You are my heart walking outside of me.
And I will protect you,
every step, every phase, every lifetime,
until the world learns
what I have known all along.
You are unstoppable.
And you are never alone.
Love,
Your Dad
