Back to Nate and Billy. Suppose when Nate finished telling Billy they could go get his dad to fix the bike, Nate’s sister Katie scolded Nate for saying their dad would fix the bike. “Nate,” she says, “You can’t talk to the president like that! He’s got lots of things to do; he’s the most important man in the country. You can’t order him around like that!”
“But,” Nate says, “I’m not really ordering him around. He’s already told me he likes to fix bikes and to bring my friends to him whenever they need his help.”
“Nate! You are forgetting who he is! He’s the president of the United States! One of the most influential men in the world! You’re just a kid. You have no right to tell him what to do. You gotta be really careful there.”
“Well….I might just be a kid….and, he IS the president….but, he’s my dad too. And he told me that I could come whenever I wanted and bring whatever things needed fixin’ and he’d be glad to do it. So….because he said that….I’m gonna go see about gettin’ that bike fixed.”
Katie hasn’t fully comprehended that she is adopted and has all the privileges of a full-born daughter of the president of the United States. She still wonders at times if it’s too good to be true and she might find herself an orphan again….so….she’s careful around him to be sure she treats him with all the respect and dignity a man of his position deserves. But, her dad hurts because of it. He longs to have a father-daughter relationship with Katie. He’s given her everything he could; done everything he knew to do; and she still can’t quite grasp that he’s her daddy….not just the president. When he first saw Katie on the streets, destitute, poor and lonely, he fell in love with her and wanted her for his own daughter. He didn’t want anything from her…just an intimate relationship.
She often tells him how thankful she is: thankful that she’s not on the streets anymore; that she has a warm bed to sleep in; plentiful food on the table; that she has a home forever; and she’ll never forget all he has done for her. But, she doesn’t realize that he didn’t adopt her just to give her a forever home, a warm bed and plenty of food. He adopted her because he wanted a daughter; because he loved her! And so, unlike Nate, her relationship stays distant, full of respect and gratitude, but lacking in depth and intimacy.
And so, her dad continues to pursue her relentlessly, knowing that someday….she will come into his office with all the boldness and confidence of a 4 year old knowing that Daddy loves her and he likes to fix things for her….even bikes.