{"id":163,"date":"2011-06-15T12:13:23","date_gmt":"2011-06-15T16:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/insweetcompany\/?p=163"},"modified":"2011-06-15T12:13:23","modified_gmt":"2011-06-15T16:13:23","slug":"daddys-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/insweetcompany\/2011\/06\/daddys-girl.html","title":{"rendered":"Daddy’s Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I am guided by spiritual practices I don\u2019t name as such: generosity, the impulse to give as much of myself as I can, respect for the beliefs of others, non-judgment, support and devotion to even the simplest forms of life\u00a0 …\u201d <\/em>— Alma For Ada,\u00a0 IN SWEET COMPANY: CONVERSATIONS WITH EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN ABOUT LIVING A SPIRITUAL LIFE<\/p>\n

One Saturday afternoon when I was about eight years old, I went with my Dad on a house call to repair a furnace. He was a mechanical and electrical engineer, an inventor and problem-solver at heart, who channeled his creativity into designing and building heating and air conditioning systems for residential and commercial clients. Always one to help a friend in need,\u00a0 Dad received a call early that morning from a long term client whose furnace had gone on the fritz in the middle of the night. Would he come over, the man asked, and see what he could do?<\/p>\n

Dad needed an \u201cassistant\u201d and I volunteered for the job. I remember walking next to him up the driveway to the back of his client\u2019s house. I remember a man coming to the door and ushering Dad inside; being told to play on a gray cement patio. I remember he was gone a long time. After a while, i heard his muffled voice inside the house. The screen door slid opened and Dad walked outside. I remember the tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n

He stepped past me onto the patio, averted his gaze and headed quickly down the driveway. I ran after him trying to catch him, to keep pace. I grabbed hold of his thick, freckled hand. I was desperate to know what had made my Daddy cry.<\/p>\n

When we reached the car he opened the passenger door and motioned me into the front seat. As I settled into my place beside him, he looked at me and sighed. “I remember the days when a man\u2019s handshake was his word,” he said. That was all he said. He got into the car and we rode quietly home.<\/p>\n

I never found out the specific nature of that breach of trust. But I remember to this day the value of a promise.<\/p>\n

A father’s tears.\u00a0 A daughter’s standard. In this way I honor my father.<\/p>\n

Your thoughts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I am guided by spiritual practices I don\u2019t name as such: generosity, the impulse to give as much of myself as I can, respect for the beliefs of others, non-judgment, support and devotion to even the simplest forms of life\u00a0 …\u201d — Alma For Ada,\u00a0 IN SWEET COMPANY: CONVERSATIONS WITH EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN ABOUT LIVING A…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":231,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[58,57,55,56],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal-transformation","tag-alma-flor-ada","tag-commitment","tag-fathers-day","tag-loyalty"],"yoast_head":"\nDaddy's Girl - In Sweet Company<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/insweetcompany\/2011\/06\/daddys-girl.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Daddy's Girl - 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She speaks and writes about things women care about: how to make our lives and our work be about what we value most; how to navigate challenge and change; how to live with integrity and grace, to look at error in ourselves and others in a forgiving way and view life as an invitation to transform ourselves into instruments for the Greater Good. \"I laughed, I cried, I was silent, I cheered. Most of all, I loved.\" Spoken by a woman at In Sweet Company Retreat, these words express what women experience when Margaret engages them in dynamic, soul-searching conversations about their lives. Margaret holds degrees in art therapy, psychosynthesis, and leadership and human behavior. Her work takes her to universities, to conferences and retreat settings, to living rooms and board rooms -- wherever women gather. 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