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Daddy's Day
~Cheryl Costello-Forshey
Her hair was up in a ponytail
Her favorite dress tied with
a bow.
Today was Daddy's 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
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 keep 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 daddies 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 at?"
She heard a boy call out.
"She probably
doesn't have one,"
Another student dared to shout.
And from somewhere near the back,
She heard a daddy
say,
"Looks like another deadbeat dad,
Too busy to waste his day."
The words did not offend her,
As
she smiled up at her Mom.
And looked back at her teacher,
Who told her to go on.
And with hands behind
her back,
Slowly she began to speak.
And out from the mouth of a child,
Came words incredibly unique.
"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 fudge sundaes,
And ice cream in a cone.
And though
you cannot see him,
I'm not standing here alone.
"Cause my daddy's always with me,
Even though
we are apart
I know because he told me,
He'll forever be 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,
Who was 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.
And
when she dropped her hand back down,
Staring straight into the crowd.
She finished with a voice so soft,
But its
message clear and loud.
"I love my daddy very much,
He's my shining star.
And if he could, he'd be here,
But
heaven's just too far."
You see he was a fireman
And died just this past year
When airplanes hit the towers
And
taught Americans 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 mother's amazement,
She witnessed with surprise.
A
room full of daddies 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're with
me Daddy,"
To the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers,
Of those once filled with doubt.
Not
one in that room could explain it,
For each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her,
Was
a fragrant long-stemmed pink rose.
And a child was blessed, if only for a moment,
By the love of
her shining bright star.
And given the gift of believing,
That heaven is never too far
Jenny was so happy about the house they had found.
For once in her life it was on the right side of town.
She unpacked her things with such great ease.
As she watched
her new curtains blow in the breeze.
How wonderful it was to have her own room.
School would be starting; she'd have
friends over soon.
There'd be sleep-overs, and parties; she was so happy
It's just the way she wanted her life to
be.
On the first day of school, everything went great.
She made new friends and even got a date!
She thought,
"I want to be popular and I'm going to be,
Because I just got a date with the star of the team!"
To be known in this
school you had to have a clout,
And dating this guy would sure help her out.
There was only one proble! ! m stopping
her fate.
Her parents had said she was too young to date. "Well, I just won't tell them the entire truth. They won't know
the difference; what's there to lose?"
Jenny asked to stay with her friends that night.
Her parents frowned but said,
"All right."
Excited, she got ready for the big event
But as she rushed around like she had no sense, She began to
feel guilty about all the lies,
But what's a pizza, a party, and a moonlight ride?
Well the pizza was good, and the
party was great,
But the moonlight ride would have to wait.
For
Jeff was half drunk by this time.
She felt someone remove her from the twisted rubble,
And heard, call an ambulance!
These kids are in trouble!
Voices she heard...a few words at best.
But she knew there were two cars
involved in the wreck.
Then wondered to herself
if Jeff was all right, And if the people in the other car was alive.
She awoke in the hospital to faces so sad.
"You've
been in a wreck and it looks pretty bad."
These voices echoed inside her head,
As they gently told her that Jeff was
dead.
They said "Jenny, we've done all we can do.
But it looks as if we'll lose you too."
"But the people in the
other car!? "Jenny cried.
"We're sorry, Jenny, they also died."
Jenny prayed, "God, forgive me for what I've done
I only wanted to have just one night of fun."
"Tell those people's family, I've made their lives dim,
And wish
I could return their families to them."
"Tell Mom and Dad I'm sorry I lied,
And that it's my fault so many have
died.
Oh, nurse, won't you please tell them that for me?"
The nurse just stood there-she never agreed.
But took Jenny's hand with tears in her eyes.
And a few moments later Jenny died.
A man asked the nurse,
"Why didn't you
do your best?"
To bid that girl her one last request?"
She looked at the man with eyes so sad.
"Because the people
in the other car
were her mom and
dad."
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