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by Reena Daruwalla, guest writer for Nancy Hayssen.com

I know that Father’s Day is still some days away (June 15 I believe), but for some reason I am missing papa terribly today. Now, more than 7 years after his passing away, I still think of him and miss him everyday; I still find that most men I have met don’t really measure up to him.

He was gentle, loving, very affectionate, very wise and knowledgeable, and had a rare facility to be able to explain things to me when I was a child and then equally as able to relate to me as a rebellious teen and later as an adult.

At every stage of my life, my father was my rock, always letting me know that I was the most important person in his life and that no matter what I did, who I was or what mistakes I made, he was always there for me, supporting me one hundred percent. I have said it before that it is my father who responsible for me being the positive and confident person that I am today.

He taught me a very important lesson in life; to love myself. Consequently I realized how important a lesson this really was, because by loving yourself, you create an expectation of being loved by others; and believe yourself to be worthy of being loved by others. When I talk about loving yourself I am not talking about conceit or vanity, or ego I am talking about self esteem, an appreciation of self, recognition of special individual qualities!

So the lesson papa taught me, by loving me unconditionally, is to show me how worthy I was of being loved. Also because of that I was able to reciprocate that love in full measure, because when you get love, you can also give love.

That lesson stood me in good stead in my future relationships: a deeply passionate, loving and meaningful relationship with my husband, a nurturing and profoundly loving relationship with my girls, and abiding friendships that have spanned decades and continents!

So if you are lucky enough to have a father, take the time to count your blessings, take the time to show him your appreciation.