I hope you will indulge me on this. It is long. From my Dad…
Her hair was in a pony tail,
Her favorite dress tied wih a bow.
Today was Daddy’ Day at school,
And she couldn’t wait to go.
But her Mommy tried to tell her,
That she probably should stay home.
Why the kids might not understand,
if she went to school alone.
But she knew she was not afraid,
She knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmates
Of why he wasn’t there today.
But still her mother worried
For her to face this day alone
And that was why once again,
She tried to kep her daughter home.
But the little girl went to school,
Eager to tell them all.
About a Dad she never sees,
A Dad who never calls.
There were Dads along the wall in back,
For everyone to meet.
Children squirming impatiently,
Anxious in their seats.
One by one the teacher called
a student from the class.
To introduce their Daddy,
As seconds slowly passed.
At last the teacher called her name,
Every child turned to stare.
Each of them was searching,
For a man who wasn’t there.
“Where’s her Daddy?”,
She heard a boy call out
“She probably doesn’t have one”
Another boy dared to shout.
And from somewhere near the back of the room,
She heard a Daddy say,
“Looks like another deadbeat Dad,
Too busy to waste his day”
The words did not offend her
As she looked up at her Mom.
She looked back at her teacher,
Who told her to go on.
And with hands behind her back,
Slowly she began to speak.
"My Daddy couldn’t be here,
because he lives so far away,
But I know he wishes he could be,
Since this is such a special day.
And though you cannot meet him
I wanted you to know.
All about my Daddy
And how much he loves me so.
He loved to tell me stories,
He taught me to ride my bike.
He surprised me with pink roses
and taught me to fly a kite.
We used to share ice cream sundaes,
And popsickles too
And though you cannot see him,
I am not standing here alone.
“Cause my daddys’ always with me,
even though we are apart
I know because he told me,
He’d be forever in my heart.”
With that, her little hand reached up,
And lay across her chest.
Feeling her own heartbeat,
Beneath her favorite dress.
And from somewhere in the crowd of Dads,
Her Mother stood in tears,
Proudly watching her daughter,
Wise beyond her years.
For she stood up for the love
Of a man not in her life.
Doing what was best for her,
Doing what was right.
“I love my Daddy very much,
He is my shining star.
And if he could, he’d be here,
But heavens just too far.
You see, he is a Canadian soldier
And died just this past year.
When a roadside bomb hit his convoy
And taught Canadians to fear.
But sometimes when I close my eyes,
It’s like he never went away”
And then she closed her eyes,
And saw him there that day.
And to her Mothers amazement,
She witnessed with surprise,
A room full of Dads and children
All starting to close their eyes.
Who knows what they saw before them
Who knows what they felt inside.
Perhaps for merely a second,
They saw him at her side.
“I know you are with me Daddy”
To the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers
Out of those once filled with doubt.
None in the room could explain it,
For each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her,
Was a fragrant long-stemmed rose.
And a child was blessed, if only for a moment,
By the love of her shining star
And given the gift of believing,
That Heaven is never too far.
This was meant for Remembrance Day but somehow got lost til today.
.