Because I sat beside my daughter while she told the truth.

Because I respected her choices when every instinct told me to make them for her.

Because when a dangerous man tried to convince her that fear gave him control, our family helped her discover that fear could be faced without becoming cruel in return.

I spent fifteen years teaching Marines that the hardest person to control in a dangerous situation is often yourself.

It took my daughter to make me understand what that lesson really meant.