Daddy's little girl..

Father's Day 2011. The pillar of any family, after the mother (of course!) The man, you'd first run to when you needed to feel safe and know you'd be protected from any harm. Growing up he was my disciplinarian, in my formative years he was my best mate, in my young adulthood he's....gone!

I chose a very different life to that of my entire family, I chose to live half way across the world. Not because we didn't get along, in fact it was the opposite- we actually were a regular working/middle class family. My parents worked hard to put my brother and I through good schools and we were brought up right. But because I was and still am a very ambitious individual and I knew what I wanted from a young age, I decided to move to England and pursue those aspirations and I've worked very hard to achieve them. My papa, let go of his little girl and supported me in my decision to do what I wanted. He was proud, he told all his friends, with his head held high, "my daughter is a Journalist".

Like any family we've had our ups and downs, but we never lost sight of what was important in life- family, good heart, good work ethic, sense of fun and humour!
It has been nearly 2 years, but I still find it so hard to come to terms with it all. No more birthday cards, one less name on the Christmas card and, today, no more phone call to wish him a 'Happy Father's Day'

This is a picture of me, with my papa's sunglasses, and guitar. It's my one of favourite. Not only was it taken by my papa, it shows our sense of fun as a family, it shows what we enjoyed to do. We had fun, we had sad moments, angry tiffs, but we still loved each other.
He worked hard (2 jobs, 7 days a week) so that we could have a decent standard of living. Growing up in Singapore was great; it is a different perpective, a different way of life, a life for a child was so much fun in the sun, sand and sea.  My papa was full of wise words, he was the coolest, not always able to control his temper, but he was only human. I'm a lot like him, not so much the anger bit, but personality- I'm daddy's little girl. he thought me boxing, he encouraged me to be a footballer, a runner and all round sporty chic and never to deter from my academic pursuits and be a decent person to everyone around me.
I miss him.
But I'm also very lucky to have an adopted dad (he's my guardian, to dispel confusion) A friend of the family, someone I've always considered as a second dad.
I'm very lucky, the family I was born into are amazing and the family I have adopted are equally marvellous. I never loose sight of what I want, what my parents- all three of them, aspire me to be. I'm blessed and loved!