A Father/Daughter Trust Like No Other...

The family decision was made. In 1971, after weighing up the pros and cons over many months, my parents finally unitedly agreed our family would sail across the vast seas to begin a new life on Australian shores. This meant packing up our entire German existence to a minimum, and a four week journey by ship with numerous docking intervals in interesting foreign countries. Countries none of us had ever seen before.

I was five years old at the time, and the youngest of three children, when this adventure began. I'm sure not many people can say they have experienced a taste of varied continents by the age of five! Sadly though, I have little recollection of this time and my memories are few and far between. However one special memory, I will always treasure, stands out as vividly as if it were yesterday....

I remember one time during the trip I was out on the deck with my father. It was surely only for a few moments and we were probably only exiting through one door to enter another. It may have been dusk and a little windy, yet to me, as a small child, I saw it differently. We were outside and it was dark, freezing and we were all alone. The large vessel was completely surrounded by huge, black and ferocious waves that seemed to want to swallow us up at first chance. The gale, which forced sea spray across our faces, was so strong I had trouble walking. I remember my father holding my hand. He was a tall, athletic man with huge hands, and always portrayed a certain calmness about him. He held on to my hand so tightly and I knew that if he let go, I would be scooped up by the cyclonic winds and thrown overboard into the infinite, angry ocean, so eagerly awaiting to eat me. I was initially terrified! What if my hand slipped? What if my father couldn't hold me or catch me if I flew away?

Then a reassurance came, and a knowing that my dad would never, ever let go of my tiny hand, no matter what. Of that I could be certain. I think back now, what trust I had in this beautiful man. 

This precious trust continued into adulthood and my father and I shared a wonderful father/daughter relationship. He taught me so much and was always so proud of my accomplishments, no matter how small they were. Sadly he passed away, due to cancer, thirteen years ago at the 'too young' age of seventy. I still miss him terribly, however I am thankful to have had the privilege of being brought up by this wise and inspiring role model of a man.

Dad will always be in my heart and everything I pursue in life, I endeavour to give it my best, to continue to make him proud, as if he were still here with me.

Trust, like this example, is so unique and empowering. I hope everyone reading this has this kind of a trusting bond with someone in their lives....