Yeah, I'm definitely going to give my dad time on this. I don't know if it will take him a week or a decade, but I'm hoping that he still wants me in his life. I may have been a little surprised at my mom's reaction, but I wasn't at all about his, so it may be tough to get us back to where we were.
There's an old story between him and I. When I was an infant, I started growing really pretty, curly, blond hair (my hair is almost that good again now, but brown instead). Everyone thought I was a girl, so he cut it all off then and continued to keep my hair short from then on out. He's also a super macho man who was furious when I refused to continue participating in his choice of macho sports. It's who he is and I can't change that. I just wish he understood that I am who I am and he also can't change me.