Daddy's Girl

There was an aquarium in my first grade classroom that contained an odd assortment of fish and one snail.  One day, the aquarium sprung a leak.  We had to do something quick or else our fish were doomed, along with the lone snail.  So Mrs. Barker deviated from the schedule on the wall, ignored our spelling lesson, and rounded up a bunch of jars in all shapes and sizes. She took the little net that we had never had occasion to use and scooped up the fish one at a time and transferred them to their temporary homes.  I volunteered to have Daddy fix the aquarium.  Mrs. Barker called our house and told him how much she appreciated his willingness to repair our aquarium and wanted to know the best way to get it to him.  That was how he found out that I had volunteered him for the job.  After that, I started telling him so he wouldn’t be surprised if my teacher happened to call.

I was always volunteering him for something.  I didn’t see any problem at all with that.  After all, I was convinced that Daddy could do anything and I was perfectly willing to offer his help.  He made a gerbil habitat and a bookshelf.  He repaired a bench, a small footstool, a coat rack, and a globe that fell apart because Albert wanted to see how fast it could spin.  And, of course, he fixed the aquarium.  When I said that he would fix our coat rack, my teacher said, “That would be an imposition.”  I had no idea what an imposition was.  It sounded kind of important, though, and I figured it would be quite an honor.  

Daddy never complained.  After I grew up, I asked him why he never told me to just stop.  He said that it seemed important to me and he didn’t really mind the work, so he just kept on helping.  Plus, he was kind of fascinated by all the things I thought he could do.  I just laughed and then he said, “I wasn’t going to let you down.”  And he never did.

In June of 2004, Daddy died.  There are so many things he has missed in the past eight years – so many things that I know he would have enjoyed.   But I will always be thankful that he missed out on my cancer.  It would have been harder for him that it has been for me. 

And I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who can fix anything, too.  I am so thankful for His healing, His care, and His comfort.  It is hard for me to imagine that God loves me infinitely more than Daddy did.  Happy Father’s Day to both of my fathers.  I have always been a Daddy’s Girl.

You've kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book.  Psalm 56:8