Here’s to All the Girl Dads

In a now viral clip that has sparked an entire hashtag movement, ESPN sports anchor Elle Duncan shared the story of how she had interviewed the late Kobe Bryant about his family of four daughters.

She recalled how she had met the basketball legend exactly one time, when she was 8 months pregnant with her own daughter. Upon hearing she was pregnant with a girl, Bryant high-fived her.

"Girls are the best!" she remembers him saying. The sports legend told the new mom-to-be to "just be grateful" for the gift of having a girl, because "girls are amazing."

When she asked him if he wanted more children, and what would happen if he had another girl (he and his wife had three children at the time, so Kobe had one more girl in his future he didn't know about yet!), he gave her this now famous reply:

'I would have five more girls, if I could ... I'm a girl dad'

Bryant's response, and the heartbreaking fact that he died alongside his daughter — the ultimate girl dad to the end — has stirred the emotions of parents everywhere who know what it's like to parent daughters. A look at his wife, Vanessa's Instagram profile only confirms the basketball giant's equally as larger-than-life love for his girls. Post after post shows him twinning with his daughter, coaching them, loving them, and celebrating them in all of their accomplishments.

The death of Kobe Bryant has sparked many different and often complicated emotions for people, but one thing is for certain: His legacy as a #girldad just goes to show you how there truly is no greater accomplishment than love.

My husband and I have four girls together and while, at times, I have a pang of sadness that our sole boy won't experience what it's like to have a brother, I know without a doubt that my husband is a #girldad through and through. And honestly? It's an awesome sight to behold.

So, to all the girl dads out there:

The dads who fix hair,

Who sit down and sip tea when it's poured at the tea party,

Who dance with little girls standing on their feet,

Who carry sleeping babes up the stairs,

Who teach them how to change a tire and paint their nails,

Who shout "You threw that like a girl!" and mean it as the highest form of praise there is,

Who teach them how they deserve to be treated forever,

Whose arms are their safe place,

Here's to you

The world could use more of you — and we are so grateful for each and every proud #girldad out there.