remote father

circumspect
thinking carefully about something before doing it, in order to avoid risk
= cautious

touchstone of
something used as a test or standard

Sara was a possessive mother, while James was an elderly and remote father
Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt were fifth cousins but were close and Theodore gave away his orphaned niece, Eleanor Roosevelt, in marriage to "cousin Franklin" in 1905.

In a Christian wedding ceremony, if someone gives the bride away, they officially present her to her husband. This is traditionally done by the bride's father.