On Saturday, I walked First Daughter down the aisle. There was a minor misunderstanding with the officiating pastor, and I was never asked, “Who gives this woman away?” Perhaps it is just as well. Though she has our blessings on her marriage, she has been independent since toddlerhood, out of the nest for twelve years, and out of the country for the last five. What was left to give away? A better question might have been, “Who receives this man into their family?” To that, her parents and siblings can all affirm, together, “We do.”
Where other babies I have known cuddled in when you held them, First Daughter liked to lean away, independent from the get-go. From her father, she got a love of travel. From her mother she got girls-can-too. From her faith she got the recognition that the poor deserve dignity. I fought back tears as we started down the aisle together, not because I was giving her away, but because God has blessed me so very richly in having her.
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