Slip, slip, slipping away

High hopes dashed to earth by real issues.
Nothing on the medical front to worry about. Just the fact that estrogen is the most powerful force on the planet, perhaps in the universe.

My daughter, my loving daughter, my dream come true, has nearly completed the course in "Father Destruction 101".

I have been anticipating this time period, but not fully preparred to have it hit me head on as hard as it did. She has begun the process of coming of age. It started out the day she called me "dad". Not dada or daddy, but DAD. I actually stopped in my tracks. Did I really hear that? Did she really say that? Even she knew that there was a paradigm shift in our relationship that moment. She too stopped, wondering what was going to happen next........

Early summer, she asked me to not call her our pet name for her. I complied. Then not long after that, she asked me to not hold her hand or show affection in public. Now, when we are out in public, she doesn't walk near me. She talks to me very little. Her mind is on shopping and friends.

....she is slipping away and I have to let her go.........

.sigh.......