Camila Alves McConaughey is grateful to her father for the advice that helped her and her husband Matthew McConaughey find each other.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Camila wrote down the advice her father gave her before she met her now husband of 12 years.
The actress and model began with a context of what her father was like as a person, as she referred to him as a 'rancher' and 'a man of morals'. “Where I learned my connection to the earth, what grows, what gives, what doesn't,” she wrote as she recounted her childhood on the occasion of Father's Day.
Camila, 41, shared how her upbringing played an important role in her search for a husband whom she today calls “the best father” for her three children and recalled her father's words about not being impressed by materialistic things, but for the “substance.”
“I was once proposed to by a prince, a man of fortune beyond the lands, a man who, if I had accepted his proposal to marry me, would have changed the status of my entire family for generations to come,” she wrote in the caption alongside to a photo of her and her father looking at each other. “Feeling the weight of not being a decision solely mine, I sat down to talk to my dad, he listened to me in silence and his first question was… 'Do you love him?' “
She recalled responding: “I'm not sure, but I like him a lot and I think the love could grow.”
She then went on to narrate their conversation while writing, “Feeling the weight in my voice, he quickly asked, 'Can you imagine having a child with him?'” to which she responded no.
“Then you have your answer,” she quoted her father's response at the time and mentioned another quote that he had repeated to her once before in her life that took her by surprise. “If you marry a man just for the material things he has, then to me you are a high-class prostitute,” she recalled.
“I know it sounds harsh, but I thought about it throughout my life, when and where I met many men who had a lot of material wealth and access, but lacked true soul and morals.”
He also talked about the time his father met Matthew. “I had no idea who Matthew was. We have some funny stories, but it's best to tell Matthew…”
She stressed that this does not mean that her father micromanaged her love life, as he always encouraged her not to carry the weight of her parents' mistakes and achievements.
“Do what's right for you… Now you have your own family to build, don't carry the weight of your mother and mine, our mistakes or achievements. You start again… Don't take your attention away from yours.”
Then he reiterated his gratitude to his father for all the learning.
