His words kept ringing in my ears as silence prevailed. They hang in the air before they slowly started sinking in and the girl inside me stopped shivering, her momentary fears slowly escaping her. I closed my eyes, slowly taking in his paternal compassion and for the very first time in my life, I realized that I respected this man beyond words. He may have failed me when love was considered for too long but he never failed me when I was lost in a stormy sea of fears and needed a lighthouse to find my way back towards the shore. "Dad..." I whispered, "You always say that it is not a sin to depend on someone."