Daddy

“Daddy, can I get up now?”

Since he retired at the age of 62, this is what my father has heard from me at the beginning of every morning, when I’m ready for his help to get me out of bed and start my day. I almost always call him “Daddy,” and it seems strange to me that I, a woman now in my 50s — who is not a Southerner — should still be calling him Daddy. I can’t seem to help it, though. It’s just natural.

But why?

Many of us called our fathers “Daddy” when we were little children, then maybe just “Dad” when we were teenagers or young adults moving out of the house. That change is almost a token of our separation from childhood. Our relationships with our fathers become different once we gain some independence, and especially when we move out of his house, and so “Daddy” becomes “Dad.”

This change never happened to me, however. Severely disabled because of my motorneuron disease, I still live under my father’s roof, and I am still massively dependent upon him for his fatherly care. So the “Daddy” of my youth still remains natural and meaningful to me.

Thinking about this one day made me think about what Jesus called His Father: “Abba.”” This word does not simply mean father, I have been told by priests, but more directly means “Daddy,” a sweet, personal term of endearment denoting the intimate dependency of the relationship, even when Jesus is grown up. Is this, I wondered, the way that I think of God? I still call my dad Daddy, but do I think of God in this way?

After all, I still live in Abba’s house, that is, the world that He has created. And I am still intimately dependent upon His divine fatherly care — more than I even know.

Perhaps, when that ultimate morning breaks I will find myself wanting to begin the eternal day and asking my God, my Creator, “Daddy, can I get up now?”

Praying to God, my heavenly Daddy, to bless, guard, and guide the very human man whose daughter I am privileged to be. God definitely gave a good one to me — I could not ask for a more loving father on Earth. I love you, Daddy!

Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing dads out there!

© 2026 Christina Chase

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Feature Photo by Liane Metzler on Unsplash