Well, I was wrong, and I actually broke a promise. Something I don't like to do. "nuff said", I need to get to what I wanted to post.

Domestic abuse has hit closer to home. Much closer than I ever wanted to see. A close member of the family has just spent over a year in an abusive relationship. There is a certain expectation to the old tradition of a Father giving away a Daughter in marriage. The father is in effect saying. " I have loved, nurtured, protected, and sustained this Daughter. She is now marrying you. I am no longer the person directly involved in her well-being although I will still continue to love her and provide anything she may still need from me. Here is the important part. It is now your job to love, nurture, protect and sustain her I expect you to do this. I expect you to respect the person she is and not try to mold her into some vision you have in your mind. If she is not good enough for you as she is, you need to marry someone else. If you do not love her as she is, you need to love someone else. DO NOT HARM MY DAUGHTER IN ANY WAY, PHYSICAL OR MENTAL. She has been raised by someone who was grateful to have her and sees her as an equal, not a piece of clay to be shaped into some kind image of what you think she should be. I will write more later when my anger has cooled.