Ever since I can remember I've been a Daddy's girl. While I felt as if everybody else in my family placed importance on being my feminine and pretty and proper, my dad fed me up on rock music, horror films and a healthy dose of sarcasm, indulging my fascination with all things morbid by taking me on trips to old castles in search of their torture chambers and by giving me Stephen King and true crime books to read.
When I was 12 and obsessed with The Lord of the Rings he took me all the way to London to stand outside the Two Towers premier for hours in the snow so I could catch a glimpse of the actors. He picked me up from concerts in the middle of the night and waited in the car while my friends and I hung around for autographs. He rescued sheep from murky canals because I couldn't bare to leave them there. He taught me how to draw, to ride a bike, to crack a joke, that knowing things is far more important than having things and that even when everything has gone to hell, to hold my chin up and keep on going.
And while I can't promise that Rory will have as easy-going a parent as I did growing up, she'll always have her grandad and that makes her a very lucky girl.
