Her father is her first hero for a daughter. And fathers are known to be soft on their little girls rather than their sons. A father’s pride in his daughter is cherished by her, and she carries it with her, no matter where she is in life. And one such father’s proud words of encouragement for his daughter who has Down Syndrome has gone viral.
Paul Daugherty is the author of An Uncomplicated Life, a memoir, in which he chronicles what it was like to raise his daughter, Jillian, who has Down Syndrome. When Jillian got married to her fiancé Ryan, earlier this summer, Paul put pen to paper again, and this time, he wrote about his daughter’s achievements, and how she has surmounted the heavy odds against her and emerged a beautiful, confident, and loving young woman.
Jillian with her husband Ryan, with her parents in the background
Image source: Paul and Kerry Daugherty
Suggested read: 3000 nude cyclists photobomb this couple’s pre-wedding photos!
Paul talks about how Jillian will be taking the walk of a lifetime with her fiancé, Ryan, and how many odds she had to overcome in order to get to this day, her wedding day. He touches upon all the challenges she had to face to get where she is today. He writes, “Do you remember all the stuff they said you’d never do, Jills? You wouldn’t ride a two-wheeler or play sports. You wouldn’t go to college. You certainly wouldn’t get married. Now… look at you.”
Paul Daugherty with daughter Jillian
Image source: Paul and Kerry Daugherty
The words just leap out of the page and grab you, making you realize how much Paul and Jillian’s mother had to endure to raise her, and how proud the two are of the young woman she has turned out to be.
Read this father’s letter to his daughter in its entirety here:
Dear Jillian,
It is the afternoon of your wedding. June 27, 2015. In two hours, you will take the walk of a lifetime, a stroll made more memorable by what you’ve achieved to get to this day. I don’t know what the odds are of a woman born with Down syndrome marrying the love of her life. I only know you’ve beaten them.
You are upstairs now, making final preparations with your mom and bridesmaids. Your hair is coiled perfectly above your slender neck. Your bejeweled dress – “my bling,’’ you called it – attracts every glimmer of late afternoon sunshine pouring through the window. Your makeup – that red lipstick! – somehow improves upon a beauty that has grown since the day you were born. Your smile is blooming and everlasting.
I am outside, beneath the window, staring up. We live for moments such as these, when hopes and dreams intersect at a sweet spot in time. When everything we’ve always imagined arrives and assumes a perfect clarity. Bliss is possible. I know this now, standing beneath that window.
I have everything and nothing to tell you. When you were born and for years afterward, I didn’t worry for what you’d achieve academically. Your mom and I would make that happen. We’d wield the law like a cudgel if we had to. We could make teachers teach you, and we knew you’d earn the respect of your peers.
What we couldn’t do was make other kids like you. Accept you, befriend you, stand with you in the vital social arena. We thought, What’s a kid’s life, if it isn’t filled with sleepovers and birthday parties and dates to the prom?
I worried about you then. I cried deep inside on the night when you were 12 and you came downstairs to declare, “I don’t have any friends.’’
We all wish the same things for our children. Health, happiness and a keen ability to engage and enjoy the world are not only the province of typical kids. Their pursuit is every child’s birthright. I worried about your pursuit, Jillian.
I shouldn’t have. You’re a natural when it comes to socializing. They called you The Mayor in elementary school, for your ability to engage everyone. You danced on the junior varsity dance team in high school. You spent four years attending college classes and made lifelong impressions on everyone you met.
Do you remember all the stuff they said you’d never do, Jills? You wouldn’t ride a two-wheeler or play sports. You wouldn’t go to college. You certainly wouldn’t get married. Now… look at you.
You’re the nicest person I know. Someone who is able to live a life of empathy and sympathy, and without agendas or guile, is someone we all want to know. It worked out for you, because of the person you are.
I would tell you to give your fiancé, Ryan, your whole heart, but that would be stating the obvious. I would tell you to be kind to him and gentle with him. But you do that already, with everyone you know. I would wish for you a lifetime of friendship and mutual respect, but you two have been together a decade already, so the respect and friendship already are apparent.
A decade ago, when a young man walked to our door wearing a suit and bearing a corsage made of cymbidium orchids said, “I’m here to take your daughter to the Homecoming, sir,’’ every fear I ever had about your life being incomplete vanished.
Now, you and Ryan are taking a different walk together. It’s a new challenge, but it’s no more daunting for you than anyone else. Given who you are, it might be less so. Happiness comes easily to you. As does your ability to make happiness for others.
I see you now. The prep work has been done, the door swings open. My little girl, all in white, crossing the threshold of yet another conquered dream. I stand breathless and transfixed, utterly in the moment. “You look beautiful’’ is the best I can do.
Jillian thanks me. “I’ll always be your little girl’’ is what she says then.
“Yes, you will,’’ I manage. Time to go, I say. We have a walk to make.
The letter was first published on The Mighty, a site that is dedicated to empowering people struggling with disabilities or disease.
What did you think of this father’s letter to his daughter with Down Syndrome? Tell us in the comments below.
Featured image source: Paul and Kerry Daugherty
Facebook
Disqus
Google + 
