By Dave Andrusko
Originally when I first wrote this story, my intention was that it would be a short post. But the more I thought about “My dad’s story: Dream for My Child,” which is also dubbed “My Dad’s A Liar! (A Child’s Future Is Worth Every Sacrifice),” the longer it became.
I understand this You Tube video is a shamelessly heart-tugging ad for MetLife Hong Kong. But as I hope to demonstrate, it is well worth a few words—and most certainly worth the 3:26 it takes to watch the ad. (Alert: you don’t have to be a particularly sentimental dad, like me, to choke up.)
The ad starts with the little girl’s note, praising her dad unconditionally: he is the most clever, the kindest—“he is my Superman” — who wants “me to do well at school.”
“Dad is just great….but….he lies… He lies
About having a job
About having money
That he’s not tired
That he’s not hungry…”
Her dad is bound and determined to provide his daughter with the best — and if that requires working monster hours at the lowest of low-paying jobs so that he can provide for her, so be it.
The ad shows those simple moments that make it all worthwhile, everything from doing homework together to hoisting his daughter up on his shoulders.
At the end, when he is taking her to school and she turns around, I think we are to understand that it might be dawning on her dad that his daughter knows what he’s been doing. Either way, when they embrace, well…
A couple of people who posted trashed the ad for not showing a mom, as if there aren’t already many, many videos rightly trumpeting the invaluable contributions of mothers. (We’ve written about these touching ads in this space often.)
The ad is making a different point that resonates with pro-lifers in a profound way: that “A Child’s future is worth every sacrifice.”
When a woman (or teenager) is facing a crisis pregnancy, the men in her life—whether it be a husband, boyfriend, or the baby’s grandfather — need to appreciate what the mom is going through and stand by her in every way possible.
After all, sacrificing for our children — in this case for our unborn children — is not only a mom thing. It’s an obligation the rest of those involved in her life ought to gladly assume.
Take 3:26 and watch this video. You’ll be glad you did!