Give the Bride Away

We often hear of hardship with single motherhood, how tough it is to raise a family on her own. How a drunkard and a basher never makes life good. Winning the gambling debts; losing the family home. But there's another side that often can be found inside the personal columns; for there isn't one for sad Desperate messages disguise a heart that is really down. Simply 'Happy Birthday Vicky' loving you - your Dad. … Married young and he worked hard; his little girl was born. He bored us to death with endless photographs we saw. Those stories he repeated were the stories we had worn. He never realized we'd been through all this before. When his little girl was three he comes home to find, everything that he had worked toward had gone! He spent his time in a park working out his mind, for this was hard to take when he'd done nothing wrong. Divorce and settlement - well that came hard enough. But this hurt him only half as much as knowing, that he was to be denied the friendship and the love, of his lovely little girl that kept him going. He became frustrated, as lonely time went on. Contact that he had were lawyer letters in the post. Everything he tried turned out for him wrong; the legal systems justice had got to him the most. His little girl now confused, decided on her very own, she didn't want her old Dad for she’s got another one! Too young to know she's used against her Dad who’s so alone. Christmas and Birthday cards return ‘address unknown’, undone. I decided I should cheer him up in some kind of way. He said he hadn't seen his little girl for some time now. I asked him to come over and share our Christmas day. He tried to be his old self that his mind would not allow. When he saw our kids excited, this just turned the knife. In tears he said he's sorry, rose and bolted for the door. He could see those special moments he missed in his life. It was better not to follow for this seemed the final straw. I heard he fought a losing battle in the solace of the drink. Once a happy man now with his back against the wall. Most of his friends have drifted from the man they think has given up upon himself - the biggest tragedy of all. Suddenly from out the blue, shouting the bar champagne; looking older and clean-shaven, and very, very sober. I had never seen him happier and he looked proud again. We drank his toast and asked him what had turned life over. He handed out cigars, bringing out his daughters letter, to let him know her wedding’s on the twenty-first of May. It was written in gold letters to a man who won’t forget her, asking him to please be there - to give the bride away.