Not what I wanted to say

What I want to tell her is, "No.  Don't change who you are for any man - not even him."

But I can't.  Not about this one man.  This is the one man I have to keep my big trap shut about.

So, instead I tell her all the reasons no one should not love her.

I tell her she can do, say, be, love, dress, walk, act absolutely any way her heart desires.

I tell her that, while no one is perfect, she's as close as I've ever seen.

I tell her I will never ignore her texts or silence her ringtone.

I remind her that she is loved and adored and respected by everyone who really knows her.

And, I hug her hard enough that she squeezes me back in reassurance.

But what I want to do is different.

I want to get in my car, drive to this person's face, and tell him to wake the f&$@ up.  I want to take away his privileges and remind him that's what she is.  I want to shake him until he sees that her first lesson in pain should never have his stamp on it.  I want to give her what she deserves instead of what I mistook for an option.

I want to fix every hole that's been dug into her wide open heart.

I have always known I can't shield them from every bad guy.  It just never occurred to me that I'd be the one to introduce them.

What I wanted to say wasn't what came to her ears, but what she needed flowed freely.  

And that was my privilege as much as my responsibility.