I Am My Father's Daughter

Last night, I was humbly honored as a Savannah Hero at the Lucas Theater. It was amazing to meet the other four heroes. I feel like I've done so little to change our world in comparison. The event was put on by the Georgia Equality foundation to recognize people in their 20s who have made a difference in the Savannah area, just prior to the Rocky Horror Show production. I stayed for the performance and had a blast. But what really got to me happened at intermission.

Since I had gone by myself, I took a balcony seat so as to not to stand out. But apparently, I was not as alone as I thought. I stepped outside to enjoy some fresh air and was continually hugged by people I've known since childhood and throughout my rescue work. Two gentlemen that I had just met an hour before the show came up and told me they couldn't believe it when they saw me on stage having just met me at The Marshall House. But that's what I love about Savannah, the only 1.5 degrees of separation.

So how does this tie into being my father's daughter? Well, when the performance was over, I headed outside and heard voices behind me. They turned out to be four folks from Tybee, one who, before she said hi, said, "You look just like your dad." Yep, I get that a lot. To be honest, if they hadn't said my name on stage or in the program, I'm not sure she would have even known it. But it's always nice to know people remember me, even if it is only because of my Daddy. Afterall, I take after him in so many ways besides my looks.

When I first went to work at eMarketSouth, I was the only female for quite some time. It meant I had to do the traditional girly things: take messages, make our booths look pretty at expos, attend dinners. At one dinner in particular, I was presenting a website I had just built for the Savannah Executives Association. I arrived early to set up the computer, then followed my boss' instructions to have a seat and wait for him. Dinner came, and then the presentation. You could hear the gasps as I stood up, put on my glasses, and proceeded to the computer. Afterwards, women came up to congratulate me about how wonderful it was that I did this when they didn't know anything about computers. I was high on my work. Then my boss took to making individual introductions of me to fellow members (all men), which I thought was flattering, until one particular introduction. He introduced me as "Mike in a dress." Not really the image a girl likes to have of her father, but knowing my dad, it probably wouldn't be a surprise to any of his friends if he had ever done anything like that.

My dad is who instilled in me a sense of community service. Very few folks know it, but my dad actually went to seminary school to become a priest. As he told a story on Super Bowl Sunday, the brothers at the monastery actually called his mom and explained to her that her son needed to find another path in life. It could have been from him having turned his dorm closet into a liquor cabinet, or maybe it was getting up at 5 am to raise the Confederate flag on Lee's birthday. Who knows. But being a good Catholic as his parents had raised, he always found ways to give of himself, continuing to this day through his work as a Shriner.

It's no secret that my dad is responsible for the majority of the animals in our house growing up. So it should have been no surprise that I turned my life into service for this rescue. Every once in awhile, he'll ask me why I do it, and I'll always reply, "It's your fault."

So while I would one day want everyone to know I have a first name, I'm still content to be recognized as "Mike's daughter."