A dance with a hero dad
Nothing reminds me more of being a dad than the annual Daddy Daughter Dance. My daughter sparkles with anticipation as we practice our dancing, and she spends weeks picking out (or buying!) clothes.
As my wife takes that final picture at the door, my daughter loves to add, “Sorry, Mom, this night is just for Dad and me”. It truly is a magical time. At the big event, Shirley Temple drinks dominate the scene, and dads are reprimanded for talking too much with their buds. There is always a line for official pictures that make me look older each year next to a blossoming daughter.
As we walk to the dance floor, amazing things are taking place. There is one dad trying to dance with three daughters. The oldest, acting as a traffic cop, tries to pull the youngest away from her tired out dad.
“Your turn is done”, the eldest says, but the youngest refuses clinging to her dad’s leg. On the other side of the dance floor, I see a dad frozen in place by his daughter’s stream of tears from some well of pain. Maybe this dad doesn’t live at home anymore, or spends too much time at work, but magic is at work tonight revealing and healing the heart.
Another dad joins my table with his precious daughter. He feeds her one spoonful at a time wiping her mouth as not all food stays where it belongs. With each spoonful he gives a word of encouragement. She responds with words and gestures I can’t understand, but I can tell she is excited. On the dance floor, the dad bends down low trying to hug his daughter as her wheelchair rocks back and forth. On a fast dance, he stands back as his daughter, shrieking with delight, spins her powered wheelchair with a partially functioning hand. She doesn’t understand everything that happens around her, but somehow she knows that this night is for her.
Dads are not perfect and sometimes there are limits to our love. But on this night, I saw a hero dad, a dad that got it right.
The Daddy Daughter Dance truly is magical; it is the magic of a dad’s deep love for his children and their response in kind.
Paul Lang
Lake Zurich