This morning I stumbled upon a moving post in the Los Angelas Times about a landslide that happened in Colorado yesterday. What captured my attention was the title itself: Colorado landslide survivor, a 13-year-old girl, says dad shielded her
It wasn’t the landslide that drew me in. It was the link between a young girl and her father and her reference to him as her shield.
I don’t know anything about this family. Nothing at all. Yet one thing is very clear. In the moment of truth, this father threw himself over the body of his daughter to protect her from harm.
I can only imagine the scene. There was probably little to no time at all to THINK in this situation. Only to act. And in this moment, the love a father had for his child caused him to act in such a way that revealed that the life of his daughter was greater then his own.
A true hallmark of genuine love.
I can’t begin to imagine the immense loss this 13 year old girl is facing today. She lost her entire family yesterday. A father, mother, sister, and two cousins. I imagine that she will experience many feelings for a long time as she goes through her own grieving process.
For me, this story conjures up a powerful image and contrast. There is a powerful bond between fathers and children. It seems that no matter how far we come in terms of equality and the battle of the sexes, a father still carries a special image and position when it comes to strength and protection in the hearts and minds of their children…. the shield that keeps children safe from harm.
When fathers forget who they are or have not learned or come to know their own power in the family, they may hurt their children instead of love, protect, and shield them.
I don’t know of any child who would want their fathers to be martyrs. Or to give up their own life to save them. Yet in this profound moment of truth in the relationship between a father and daughter, she will never forget his greatest act of service in leadership. Her father, her dad, the man who gave his life in order to protect her.
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Questions for Reflection:
- Fathers, if you knew how much you mattered to your children, how would that change your current parenting style and how you lead at home?
- Who else has some personal stories about their fathers that were profound examples of love, strength, and protection in your life? Please share.
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Additional Related Resources
The Quest for Truth by Samantha Hall
The Burden of Truth by Samantha Hall
Finding Ourselves in the Depth by Samantha Hall
Honesty: The Plain and Simple Truth by Frank Sonnenberg
Samantha what a moving beautiful sad post.
The bond between father and daughter, the bond between mother and child.
Our bonds of love will have us doing acts of courageous feats.
because our love for those we care about have no bounds.
Thanks so much for sharing from your heart.
Lolly
Thank you Lolly. You are so right. Love is an amazingly powerful force. When I’m feeling it, I feel like I can do almost anything. When I feel detached from it …as if I’ve lost it… (i.e like when Gary died or when friends walked away , etc) it seems like my life force energy goes on a downward spiral.
And when we love people; whether it’s our children, spouse, friend, or even a company or a cause… love enables us to do amazing things.
Thanks for stopping by my friend! xo
Samantha, Thanks for sharing.
This news story, as well as so many others made me stop, listen, reflect and look deeply for something to put on my Gratitude List, etc. I was Grateful that a life was saved and I was touched by a father’s love that was unconditional, fearless, unbridled, shielding…
My prayers are with the young survivor and her family.
Jandis
Thank you Jandis. Yes, it is stories like these that remind us that there really are no guarantees in life. All’s we truly have is today. Right here. Right now. I didn’t really understand this (as well as I do now) until my husband passed away. It gave me a new appreciation for the brevity of life and that each day we should treasure our loved ones with an understanding that we may not have an opportunity to do so tomorrow.
Thanks for sharing and yes, let’s all hold this precious girl close to our hearts and wrap her in our love.
Samantha, I had not heard this story but it’s deeply moving. I’m heartbroken for her and know that she is lucky to be alive and the road ahead will be filled with so much pain from this loss too.
The love of a parent for a child runs deeper than I think any of us can articulate.
I have a small moment of love to share from my own father. When I was a teen my whole family went to see the Rockettes. I had forgotten my glasses and was not wearing my contacts. My Dad has bad eyesight too but he handed me his glasses so I could see – a gesture which I knew would make everything a blur (at best) for him. Turns out I couldn’t see a thing through his glasses since we have different prescriptions but I kept wearing them because that moment and that gesture meant so much to me. Silly, I know but it was a meaningful moment and a gesture of love.
Thank you for sharing Alli. Yes, I agree that the love between parent and child can be deeper then what we can articulate. I can’t even bring myself to entertain the thought when it comes to my girls. Case in point: First time my oldest got on a plane after her dad died, I had a bout of separation anxiety. Couldn’t stop crying when I took her to the airport and I HATE…and I mean HATE….crying in public. It’s something I prefer to do in private. And I couldn’t stop my tears. Part of me was thinking…’Get it together woman! You are being a total dork!’ And the other part of me that was crying simply couldn’t help it. That part was literally caught up in a bad case of …’OMG…I remember the pain I felt when Gary died and the idea of something happening to my daughter is too much for me to handle….’ etc.
I had no idea you wore glasses! Thank you for sharing about a loving moment with your own father. And not silly at all! : )
I believe the love of a parent for a child is the strongest of all. Can you think of any other connection that is stronger?
Thank you for sharing D’Anne. I agree. I haven’t found a stronger connection yet.
Samantha, thank you for sharing this story. I do feel for the little girl, who had suffered so much loss. Yet, I wonder how much she’ll remember her dad dying to protect her, and whether she’ll feel any guilt around that.
In general, I do believe that parental love is one of the greatest. However, I must also say that I don’t believe that *all* parents would do what the man in this new story did. That is, as much as I believe in the good within all of us, there is a fraction who don’t love themselves enough to be able to extend that love beyond themselves to save his/her flesh and blood. I can think of at least one man I know personally who wouldn’t throw himself over his daughter in the same situation. He’d care about his own survival at all costs. It’s sad but it’s true. When I think of this man, I can only feel compassion for him.
Thanks for sharing this story, Samantha!
Thanks for commenting Alice. I imagine she will experience survivor guilt as a natural part of her grief cycle. Not uncommon.
As for ‘all’ parents doing what this man did. You are right and that is what prompted me to write this post and why I titled it ‘A Moment of Truth’. I didn’t have a father that demonstrated love for me even remotely close to this. Many children do not have fathers that would sacrifice for them much at all. That is why this story moved me the way it did.
On the one hand it gives me hope that there ARE people that genuinely love. On the other, it’s a painful contrast for those of us that did not know that kind of sacrificial love from our parents.
And that’s part of the journey as well for many of us. Connecting with compassion in ourselves for the things we have personally suffered that will help us to understand and provide compassion to others. Even to the people in our lives who were not equipped to provide us with what we needed during our formative years.
Thank you so much for sharing Alice. xo