Why I Support Dads for Daughters
Guest Blog: From Doting Dad to Empty Nester
I support The Women’s Foundation of Colorado’s Dads for Daughters program because for the last 21 years I have primarily defined myself as a dad to Emma and Leah, my smart and inspiring daughters. Over the years I have taught elementary school while carrying these girls as infants; I have attended tea parties, dressed up, kissed scrapes, and played games; I have sung Disney show tunes, prepped for SATs, and dried many tears.
Father’s Day is especially poignant this year as it is literally the last day I will have a child at home. I am officially becoming an empty nester the evening of Father’s Day. On Monday, my wife Steph Bruno (the board chair of WFCO) and I move to Seattle and we will no longer have a child under our roof. In Seattle, I will become the head of Westside School and will be known more as Steve, the head of school, rather than the dad to Emma and Leah.
Yes, empty nesters. It’s a hard concept to wrap my brain around. Emma is working at a summer camp in Maine this summer and will be entering her senior year at Denison University. Leah is juggling theater jobs and leading summer camps in Denver and will be a freshman at Lewis and Clark College in the fall.
Creating a brighter future through Dads for Daughters
And while I am incredibly proud of them and happy for their futures, I do still worry about what they will face in the world. I worry that they will be paid less than a man or will not have as many artistic or leadership opportunities. I worry whether they will be able to support their families. I want a brighter future for them and all of the women of Colorado. This is why I support Dads for Daughters.
I also contribute to Dads for Daughters for all of the daughters out there who don’t have dads to pay for college, buy braces, or make sure they have good health care. If you are a dad with a daughter and are as proud as I am, I ask that you donate to The Women’s Foundation of Colorado in her honor.
If you are a man without a daughter, I ask you to contribute to all those daughters out there who need support to get them on the path of economic security.
If you are a daughter, I ask that you make a donation in the name of your dad to thank him for what he has given to you. And give him a call if you can, because he is thinking of you and will always define himself as your dad.
He will appreciate it. Trust me on this.
Steve has been a teacher, theatre director, and school administrator at Friends School in Boulder and at Stanley British Primary School in Denver for the last 28 years. He blogs regularly about schools and education. But mostly, he’s just Dad! Steph will still be in Denver regularly for her volunteer work as board chair of The Women’s Foundation of Colorado and to meet with her financial planning clients.
