#GirlDad

April 4, 2018 changed my life forever. That’s the day I became the father of a young girl, Ava Layne Vogler. The late, great Kobe Bryant would popularize the term #GirlDad for those of us who are blessed enough to have a little girl in our lives.

When I found out we were having a son, Kingston, in 2014, I was nervous about having our first child, but outside of that, I wasn’t too concerned because he was going to be a boy. Obviously, that was something I could relate to. So I imagined all the fun adventures we’d go on and ball games we’d see. No sweat.

When I found out we were having a daughter, it was a little different. First, I had to prepare myself for two little kids running around the house. Second, I had to wrap my mind around this one being a little girl. My experience there was very limited. I wondered how I would, and should, act around her. Would I treat her differently than Kingston? These things ran through my mind. And then she was born.

All of that went out of the window. As soon as I laid my eyes on that beautiful baby girl, I fell in love. In the years since, Ava and I have had plenty of adventures and time well spent together. And as it turns out, we have quite a bit in common. She is our “wild child” who loves rock & roll, and Godzilla movies as much as I do. But she’s very much her own person, a lover of all things pink, and dinosaurs. She is our Ava.

I’m excited to see the young woman she grows up to be. One day, maybe she’ll come across this old column her dad wrote for her. If she’s a teenager, it’ll likely embarrass her, but if she’s a little older, maybe it’ll help her know how much her dad loves her… always and forever.