Content

As the day begins to rise over the village, where the farmers sow and the cattle graze, the people gather to celebrate.  They dress in their finest and collect their well wishes, for today is a special day.  Today, a girl becomes a woman, and a father becomes a witness to her splendor.  It has been fifteen long years since she came into his world, and now she is coming into her own.  It is no small feat to become a woman.  No easy path to letting go of what was, of accepting what is to be.

For days gone by, she has danced in the courtyard, not in her gown, but in her jeans; with her friend at her side.  They practice each morning in the courtyard till day becomes night.  She wants everything to be perfect, for her special day.  A day every girl can only celebrate once.  They step in time, and giggle as they fumble.  But together, they learn, and become a troop, ready to display their colors.

He practices too.  He wants to toast to the girl that has been his whole life.  Without her, he would be nothing.  Nothing and alone.  For her entrance into this world came at a terrible cost, one he has never overcome.  He thinks now about his future.  What life will soon be like.  But now is not the time for such things.  Now is the time for speeches, and toasts, and dance.

With the day now growing long, the party soon begins.  The people gather in the mission square, their eyes wide with excitement.  Then she arrives, drawn by horse across the square.  As she exits her carriage, made of old wood and stuffed with hay, the village greets their little woman.  She is dressed in a hoop skirt gown of the purest white, with a thin veil tucked over her face.  She pulls it back to reveal the face of a woman, newly anointed and full of energy.  She greets them all openly.  Their arms are generous and give many hugs.  As the night races on, the party grows full and loud.  The libations are full and loud as well.  There are many prayers, and songs, and toasts given in honor of the village’s newest young woman.  

As the party grows restless, the young woman takes her stage and performs her part.  As the music plays, the girls sway, and the men swoon.  The court of men that are to be her honor guard stand before her, ready to perform their part.  She takes the hand of her chosen man, and together they dance their way into adulthood.  For her, this is a most memorable night that will only be rivaled by her wedding.  

Her father has waited for this moment all her life.  Now that it is here, he wonders what is to become of him.  Will he see her off to college?  Will she bring home boys that flatter her?  Men who love her?  Will she ever see her father the same after this night?  Is he the same?  He cannot be sure of what is to come, but he knows he has prepared her for all that he can.  But he has not prepared himself.  

Now as the night grows old, the party comes to a close.  Now the village elders say their goodbyes, too old to stay out late.  The young know now it is safe, and quickly change the tambour of the night.  Instead of Mariachi, there is rock, and hip-hop, and techno; and the children gyrate and shift in unseemly ways.  The parents are not sober enough to stop them, for they have swallowed too much drink and cake to care.  For a time the children are free, and for one more moment, a young woman is a kid again.

She dances to disco, as if it were still all the rage.  No cares to stop her, no rules to contain her.  For this is her night and she will have it all her own way.  Her friends and neighbors laugh and cry as she dances and stumbles in her hoop dress and shorts.  Her sneakers peek out from under occasionally, as if they were whales gasping for air.  And as the night grows long, she grows content.  She knows soon the night must end.

He knows too that the night must end, for tomorrow dawns the first day of a new woman born into this world.  He sees her grow tired.  She lies down in the middle of the square.  The poof of her skirt engulfs her like a white rose bursting from the ground.  From under that rose, the only sign of what lies beneath; two dirty sneakers poking out from the edge.  And out from that rose shall emerge a new woman, who will grow and marry, and eventually leave him.  His nest will be empty, and his heart will be heavy.  But he will be happy and proud.  He knows she is strong, and she will go on without him; even if he cannot.

Now the night begins to wane.  Tomorrow is approaching.  And soon it will be time for another father to witness his daughter’s transformation into womanhood.  The days grow quiet, but anticipation looms.  And as new lives flourish, the old sow the fields and the young plant the seed of the next generation of fathers and daughters.  Traditions may change, but family remains.  And so does the love of a father and his daughter.

Original Draft July 2015, Current 11/6/19