Stay With Me, Daddy 2021 <TRUSTED »>

When you are thirty, "Stay with me, Daddy" changes shape again.

We all know how this story ends eventually. No one gets out of here alive. But "Stay with me, Daddy" isn't actually a denial of that ending. It is a demand to savor the middle. stay with me, daddy

In a world that tells us to be independent, to "cut the cord," and to stand on our own two feet, the plea "Stay with me, Daddy" feels vulnerable. It feels childlike. When you are thirty, "Stay with me, Daddy"

When you ask your father to stay, you are telling him: "You did your job right. You made me feel so safe that no one else’s presence feels like home." But "Stay with me, Daddy" isn't actually a

Stay with him. Not because you need a protector anymore. But because he needs to know that the best thing he ever did is still right here, holding his hand.

So, if you are lucky enough to still be able to pick up the phone and hear his gruff "Hello," do it. If you are lucky enough to hug him, don't do that quick, pat-on-the-back hug. Hold on for one second longer.

But let me reframe that: It is not a sign of weakness. It is a testament to a love well built.