A Father's Story

I am thinking about Andre Dubus' short story, "A Father's Story." I think of this tale whenever I do something for one of my daughter's that I wouldn't do for anyone else in the world. Today it was a small thing, cutting a page from a book, but books are almost akin to holy objects to me so to cut a page from one goes against my instincts. But if that's what my daughter needs, cut I will and cut I did. But back to the short story. In it, the narrator is relating how his daughter, who was visiting him during the summer, arrives home after a night of some drinking with her girlfriends and tells her father she that she has hit someone on the road. The father goes back to the scene of the accident and finds the victim, a young man, who is dead. To protect his daughter, he doesn't call the police etc. He later confesses his knowledge of the hit-and-run to his priest. At the end of the story, he is conversing with God and it goes something like this: If she had been my son, I would have immediately called the police (implying, as you let your Son die on the cross). But a daughter is different. She is my daughter and my love for her is greater than my love for a son (or your love for your Son. So, if God had had an "only begotten Daughter," the history of the world might have turned out differently. ) Then you love her in weakness, God says. As you love me, the narrator replies. The story can be found online at http://www.wicknet.org/english/bfreeman/Anthology/A%20Father's%20Story.htm