The day is 7th of June 2021
I'm sitting in house, going thru my phone, and a Whatsapp notification pops up,
It's my daughter in a white beautiful gown, in the arms of another man.
The message attached read,
"It was my wedding yesterday and..."
Wait what? I hit Pause.

How come I wasn't invited?
I'm her father, how could she?
These are all the thoughts crossing my mind
I'm heart broken, shattered, ******
My daughter married without me?

Rewind 27 years ago..
The day is the 6th of Jan 94
We laying in bed giggling
Then I suddenly hear the words, "we need to talk"
I start sweating, thinking about everything I might've done wrong
I'm shaking, I'm worried, I'm frozen
"I'm from the doctor today. We are expecting, and it's a girl", she says
My heart start pumping, emotions overwhelm me
I'm happy, worried, mad
"Wow! I'm gonna be dad.
How am I gonna support her?
Why didn't she use morning after pills?"
Oh boy, so what now?

For the man I am, I start making promises
"Babe, I will always be here for you and her.
Every birthdays, the first steps, and the first falls.
The first laughs and the first tears. I will be there.
I will be there for the graduations, the first time she falls in love, and the first heart brake.
I will be there when she gets her first job, and I will be there when she buys her new house.
I'll be there when she decides to get married, and I will be there to walk her down the isle."

I will protect her, protect you.
I will love you always.
I will never leave you
All this promises and I start to sound like Mariah Carrey singing 'I'll Be There'
But the truth is, when it mattered the most, I was Never There.

Fast forward 27 later, and not a single promise I kept
Well, at least not all of them
Because I was always there, only not for them, but for my new family I left them for
I was there everytime my new wife chased me out because I lost my job, and like good hearted people my ex family and daughter were, they welcomed me to stay.
After that, I still left everytime I got a new job.
I was there for all the birthdays, only not my daughter's.
I was there for her first heartbreak, I was the cause
I was the first man ever to break her heart, and I'm afraid she never recoverd
I was there when she got her new job,
Actually to be precise, when she got her first paycheck
I was there everytime I wanted something
And I was nowhere when she needed anything
When she needed a dad,
When she needed a protector,
When she needed advice,
When she needed to be held,
And I was nowhere when she decided to get married

I don't know what I was expecting
Maybe I thought she'll call me
I thought she'd invite me
But how could she, when all I did was to make her lose trust in any man

The message continued..
"I wanted you to know,
I finally found a man now dad
A man who loves me like you should have
A man who protects me
A man who is always there for me
A man who showed me what it is to be everything you never were
He is not perfect, but he never left me either
A man I'm happy to call my husband "

"And you know what? I forgive you. I forgive me.
Even though you're the first man to ever break my heart, I still love you dad.
I hope you enjoy your life with your new family.
So long."

Message ended.