My Dad Took Me on a Date to Teach Me How a Real Man Treats a Woman (2 of 3)

Turns out, our big outing was… Costco.

Not exactly dinner and roses. But as we wandered the aisles—him cracking dad jokes over frozen pizza samples—I realized this wasn’t random. We grabbed sundaes from the food court, sat down among the chaos of shopping carts and weekend madness, and that’s when he got serious.

“You deserve someone who respects you,” he said, looking me straight in the eye. “Someone who opens doors. Listens when you speak. If a guy ever makes you feel small, he’s not your guy.”

I didn’t say much, just nodded. But something inside me shifted. I understood what this was. My dad wasn’t just trying to hang out. He was setting a standard. Quietly, simply, he was showing me what love should look like—and more importantly, what it should feel like.

We sat there, spoons scraping the bottom of our cups, as he kept going. “The world’s full of people who will talk a good game. But how someone acts when nobody’s watching—that’s who they really are.”

It hit me then: My dad wasn’t perfect, but he had always shown up. Always respected my mom. Always respected me. And now, he was passing that on, in the middle of a warehouse food court, with sticky tables and the scent of rotisserie chickens in the air.

“I want you to expect more,” he said quietly. “To never settle. To walk away from anyone who doesn’t see your worth.”

Months passed. I went back to school. Had a few relationships that fizzled. Nothing stuck. But his words did. They echoed in the background when I needed them most, guiding me without pressure, like a lighthouse I could always come back to.

Then came Daniel.

He wasn’t flashy. No grand entrances. Just thoughtful, consistent, and warm in a way that made you want to lean in. He listened—really listened. He remembered the little things. He saw me, not just as someone to date, but as someone to understand.

One evening, sitting across from him in a quiet café, he reached for his coffee and said, “I just want to make sure I never make you feel like you’re not heard.”