Nell

When I was a junior in high school I dated a girl named Nell for a little while. The first night I went to pick her up, she wasn't dressed so I sat in the living room with her dad for a few minutes waiting for her. He said, "Son, I've always liked you. In fact, I've always secretly hoped you and Nell would date."

Suddenly the ground shifted as he said, "There is only one thing I want you to know. I feel responsible for Nell. I'm responsible for her physically, emotionally, spiritually, even legally, and when she is with you, you are responsible to me for everything that happens to her. Do you understand that, son?"

I answered, "Yes, sir." But, I should have said, "No one has ever explained it to me so clearly."

Trust me, I would have thrown myself in front of a loaded truck and let it hit me before I would have let anything bad happen to that girl. I was responsible to her dad for her.