Daddy's Little Girl

---

I've always been

Daddy's Little Girl,

Always happy and cheerful

With not a care in the world.

In the days of ribbons and lace,

When he would always

Wipe the tears from my face.

He'd help laugh away my pain,

Or ease my heavy heart.

There was nothing he couldn't do

He was really just that smart.

He always knew just what to say

And which things to do

To help me feel a little better,

To help pull me through.

I was his little angel,

I was his little girl

And he made me feel

On top of the World.

He made me see there was nothing

That I couldn't do.

He taught me many lessons

On what I ought to do.

A man so wise in his ways,

It's hard to think that he forgot

That what he used to be to me

He simply was not.

My hero in young years,

My daddy many more

And suddenly it's all gone

It's just walked out the door.

Gone are the years

Of ponytails and piggyback rides,

Gone are the days we shared.

In fact, it's not just the memories,

My daddy's no longer there

When I need him most

He always has better things to do.

He expects the same of me,

But what am I to do?

I'm a teenager now, yes

And he's not getting younger, I know,

But that doesn't change the fact

That he should simply go

And walk out of my life like that

Expecting me to replace him

With makeup, life and friends.

Because as far as those things go,

Image is where it ends.

None of them were around

When I needed them most.

In fact it was just daddy

The one I loved the most.

But now even he is gone

To find friends and to find peace,

And it's as though to him

I did all but cease.

No longer is it 'daddy'

Now it's 'father'

Cut and dried

Because with the coming of age

My childhood invariably died

And with it, so did daddy

And it pains me to this day,

For the memories still linger,

And I know you didn't go away.

You're still the same man on the outside,

Still the driving force in my life.

And no matter how childish,

No matter how cliché

I'm gonna be your little girl

Until my dying day

---

2-19-06
Lisa Kantenseter