Welp, my baby girl is all growed up I reckon. She will always be my baby girl, but I suppose it is time for her to reach for the brass ring as they say. Her fiancé, Mike, asked her to marry him this morning and she said yes! Mike and I had a long discussion about it last Christmas. I told Mike how much it meant to me that he deemed it important to talk to me about it. These days, that kind of respect for time honored tradition is almost nonexistent. Kristy is already older than I was when she was born, has graduated from college, and has begun her career as a teacher. She is much wiser and much more mature than I was at that age as well. I pray that she and Mike will have a long and happy life together. I hope they both know that I am here for any and all help they may ever need. There was a time in my life when I could not say that. It is unfortunate, but true.
By the time I really learned how to be a good father, and was able to put it into practice, both of my kids were almost grown. It is not something I am proud of. Like most lessons in my life, I learned the hard way. For most of their childhood, I was an absent father. Work always seemed to take precedent over family. When I was there, I probably was not very pleasant to be around – I didn’t understand the importance of one on one time. My mind was always somewhere else. But over the last 10 years or so, I have made a concerted effort to repair and strengthen my relationship with both children. They are awesome even if they are mine. They have every reason to be resentful and bitter toward me, but they are not. If anything, our relationships continue to grow and strengthen – and I thank God every day for it.
There is a cowboy singer-songwriter out of Texas named Trent Willmon. I have only seen Trent live one time, but I love his music. His relationship with his daughter has created some of his most important, beautiful and powerful songs. One seems like it would be for a spouse, but he wrote it for his daughter. It is titled “Island”. But “Daddies and Daughters” is the most beautiful picture of the father/daughter relationship in my opinion.
Kristy, you will always be my baby girl. I love you. I ain’t going anywhere. Remember when I wrote this for ya? It is doubly hard to freeze teardrops – because they are saline. I know this from running cold storages for 20 years. LOL. Mike, please take good care of her. She means a lot to a bunch of folks. I expect the same out of her…
Turning Teardrops Into Snow
Well good morning little girl
I’m so glad that you’re awake
I was just about to go to work
And I’m always running late
It’s hard to be your dad sometimes
A boss and husband too
You all expect so much from me
And I have too much to do
I promise I’ll spend time with you
When I get home tonight
I’ll meet you in your little swing
Beneath the old porch light
That’s the world I knew
Back when she was two
I thought work was life
And life was work
While my little girl just grew
We drifted apart, together
To a cold place I now know
Causes broken hearts to harden
Turning teardrops into snow.
My little girl grew distant
And the image left of her
Is losing ground to time
As the pictures start to blur
Time I should have spent with her
Was spent so foolishly
While chasing what I wanted
What I needed just chased me
The things I missed, remembered
Make a cold wind start to blow
Mists of time right through my mind
Turning teardrops into snow
How I wish we could reverse
The cold, hard hands of time
But our lives play out in days
As our memories rewind…
So that’s the world I knew
Back when she was two
I thought work was life and life was work
While my little girl just grew
We drifted apart, together
To a cold place I now know
Causes broken hearts to harden
Turning teardrops into snow.