I read a beautiful article today by The Reverend Mpho A. Tutu, the daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It is a wonderful tribute to both her famous and extraordinary father and her considerably less famous but equally extraordinary husband. Their common bond—they are both fathers.

One line in particular stayed with me:

"I have seen that, in some ways, it is the child who makes the father, even as I know that the father shapes the child."

It is the child who makes the father, and I know that now from my own experience. Helping to raise Anna has shaped the person that I am in ways I didn't know were possible. My transformation began the first time I held her (as I describe in my book):

I looked down at Anna. She was gazing up at me with her big brown eyes. I had read in many books that I would love this baby more than I’d ever thought was possible. I also read that those feelings don’t come right away for every dad, and not to be concerned if they didn’t.

“I love you so very, very much,” I said, just getting the words out. The emotions were immediate and intense. I knew at that moment I would do anything; give anything, my own life included, for this little girl in my arms.

I pulled myself together, and continued: “Anna, I want you to know that there is nothing you can’t do; nothing you can’t be if you want to, and don’t listen to anyone who tells you different.”

My first fatherly advice: not that she understood what I was saying. She just kept gazing up at me.

The transformation began that day and it has been going on ever since. I've taught her, guided her, from time to time I've had to reprimand her, and all the while as I've watched her grow I have grown too.

We've both got a long way to go and it's going to be an incredible journey.