My daughter is named after one of the main female characters in Lord of the Rings.  The one from the Riders of Rohan, who I call horse girl. She is often confused with the elf girl.  This to me, is annoying at times, because we all know that the horse girl is the coolest woman in the trilogy hands down.  Elf girl  pines for future king most of the time.  Horse girl  does too and gets rejected but ends up with a bit of a consolation prize in another guy but you can’t always get what you want but you get whet you need.  I really wanted to marry the girl I lit the candles for but that didn’t pan out. 

This one is about strong women.

In the trilogy, horse girl kills the lead Ringwraith – the Witch King.  He is plainly an overconfident prick because it was prophesied that no man would kill him.  Except that was a very Macbeth like promise because horse girl disguises herself as a man to fight for her people.   I often showed mine the clip when she removes her helmet to reveal herself before doing a Solozzo on Witch King while saving “I am no man.”  Present day daughter lives up to that.  She used to yell “NYPD!”’at the playground while chasing misbehaving kids.  I did not teach her that.  I swear.  I taught her other stuff like how to search a person and to look at trash for evidence.  She’ll find it handy once she starts dating in 20 years or so.  I kid.

I could guard any man in basketball.  But a woman was a bit different.  In my freshman year of high school, the future captain of the Princeton women’s basketball team was in my gym class.  I had to guard her a lot.  She took me to school.  I also defended her in football as a corner with marginally better results.  She was so strong and fast.  I also once guarded someone who played point guard for Northwestern University’s women’s basketball team.  She was really steady and played offense a lot like I did – not flashy but controlled.  She was the only female playing with us guys.  Extremely difficult to stick to – she knew how to move with and without the ball.  She was actually harder to guard than my classmate who played college ball as well.

This has shifted a bit but at one point my primary mentors were women.  They are still the most accomplished ones in my circle.  Both shaped my thinking profoundly and they were the first two to comment positively on my writing and encourage me to pursue this path more seriously.

I was also blessed to have taught many amazing female students, especially in Boston.  I was so proud of them.  Savvy, smart, full of life and character.  I told them they gave me hope for my own daughter who was awaiting birth at that time.  Also professionally – sister prosecutors and adopted sister police officers.  

The group of students I used to shepherd at church also had many outstanding females.  I didn’t realize this until last year but the predator I wrote about was to be their primary guide until fate or destiny intervened.  Mysterious ways and all that.  

Present day daughter is learning Brazilian jujitsu.  I also see how she is a leader among her peers.  This is actually her Chinese zodiac year – the dragon. 

Still hidden for now as she should be.

But all dragons appear and rise in time.  The daughter of the snake is also a dragon.  Maybe she will be a good one.  Maybe she won’t.  

Fathers matter.  Time will tell.

But my girl has me and all my powerful mentors and friends in her corner.  The seeds I sowed decades ago and watered since.  My stories too but I suspect hers will be better.

And the God who watches over her.

As to the photo above, she wore 5 when she played soccer – like the legendary Spanish and Barcelona defender Carles Puyol, one of the greatest and toughest captains in history. She played a lot like him – the best tackler on the team. Absolutely fearless and unrelenting.