Father King QueenThe first face I saw when I arrived to this kingdom was my father’s. Deliverance was the first gift he offered me out of a lifetime of countless gifts he would bestow. He often tells me stories of how he spent my first hours of life advising me on what all I would become and have, and describing how worthy of it all I was. He planted words and wishes within me like a master gardener. He never called me his princess, however – I was always Queen.

My father raised me to be a beautiful handful. A proud, brown-skin, girl with her head tilted upwards and the kind of eye contact that pierced coward-like souls. I had the round face of his mama and the red undertone of his wife, so my father looked at me with love even when I was the spitting image of defiance.

As I grew up, my father did an excellent job of loving me firmly. My mother’s way was to let the wilderness in me take over, as she loved to go for walks in my woods, but when my father saw my weeds, he would pull them. When he saw my unruly hedges, he would trim them. He added order to my chaos, which I adhered  to with outraged obedience. With all my wildfire passion, I knew better than to cross the King. My father loved my wild blossoms, but was often fearful that the world would pluck me apart. He had no idea how deep my roots ran from seeds he had planted, or how resilient my petals were from storms he taught me to overcome.

Father King QueenNow that I am a woman, my father has become a better friend than I could have ever imagined. He looks at me with pride and trusts my judgement and discernment. He sees himself in my brilliance. He is thoughtful, and encouraging of my wild ways. We talk at length about anything and everything, as life has taught us it’s much more fun when we compare notes instead of keeping secrets. I evolve my Queendom with his close, and valued, advisement.

Some days even now, as I skip off to love the world as my mother taught me to, my father will stop me, hold my face in his hands, and tend to the seeds he planted so long ago. Long live this kind, and loving, King. He brought forth the Queen I am today.