daughters

"On behalf of every man looking out for every girl, you are the god and the weight of her world."

Damon walked away from his family when he was 37 years old. No note, no notice. He just packed up a few items and drove his pick-up truck away. He had been laid off, his wife constantly nagged at him, and he was He left behind a wife, a son, and a daughter.

Lawrence always wanted sons. He married a kind and loving woman, and she gave him one child. A daughter. Larry barely held the child. He never gave her affection, never took interest in her life. He made sure she was fed, clothed, and protected. But he had no interest in knowing her.

Tony was angry and an addict. He had spent most of his youth deployed overseas. He came home with nightmares and hallucinations. He used drugs and alcohol to ease the pain. When that wasn't enough he took his frustration and fear out on his wife and two daughters by hitting them.

So what happened to these four girls? Their lives didn't fall apart. They graduated high school, went to college and became successful professionals. They had solid relationships with their families, strong friendships to count on, and a generally wide social network.

But they struggled in relationships. Their assumption of men was that they were jerks, that every action was done with ulterior motive or to purposefully hurt. They rarely had long-lasting relationships, and when they did, they were paranoid, vengeful, and uncompromising.

They appeared as well-rounded and emotionally stable as their friends who grew up in a stable family. Their lives didn't fall apart. But they had. They were not whole and didn't even realize it. They didn't believe in and understand love. They didn't know how it worked. They didn't know what it felt like. They couldn't recognize a man's love.