When a daddy needs his daughter

My dad's first remark, when they told him "it's a girl" was a disappointed..."ohhhhh...".  The wife of one of my parents' friends quickly chided him with "Don't you dare go in that hospital room and say that, Chuck!"  He has relished telling that story many times over the years and has always finished it with, "That was the last time I thought that.  I never regretted having a girl again!"

I am an only child.  Dad always told people, "Why have another?  We couldn't improve on perfection!"  Of course, he would've loved more but that wasn't to be.  So instead,  I grew up and had six kids, which delighted him to no end!  He called it a good return on his investment.  He bought fire trucks for my boys and play high heels for my girls and spent whole days building sand boxes for them and painting their rooms.  At the time, in my busy mommy days, it seemed like such a big help to me.  Now that I find myself at the age he was then, and those kids are rapidly becoming busy adults themselves, I get what he must've been feeling.

Tonight, my daddy needed me.  And for now, he is safe at my home resting.  I listen to him ask me the same questions over and over, trying to make sense of a puzzle that is missing more pieces every day.  And on the eve of this Father's Day I am grateful to reassure him, just as he's done for me.

As you lay your head on your pillow, say a prayer for my dad, for me.  I don't know what tomorrow holds.....but I know Who holds it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlsCKFOn7oc