It's My Honor to Be Her Father
by Steve West on June 26, 2020
I just returned from Lauren"s surprise wedding shower. She was completely awed. She came on the pretense of picking up a couch for her apartment in North Dakota. There was a couch for her, yes, but we also celebrated her upcoming nuptials. Lots of family and friends including her male maid of honor who could not attend the wedding in ND. As part of the celebration, I was asked to create a list of questions for Lauren Trivia.. I made them super easy like favorite color (purple), common fear (arachnophobia), and other minor stuff. One question's answer included a short anecdote. Q: How old was Lauren when she first made her Dad cry? A: When she was three, I called for her to come play a game with me. We sat on the floor opposite each other and I placed three objects between us; a pen, a dollar bill and a toy of some kind. It's traditional, in China maybe, to see which object a child chooses. It's supposedly indicative of what the child will choose as their life's goal. The pen represents wisdom, the money is, well, money and the toy represents fun. Without explaining this to Lauren, I merely asked her to choose one of the items. She stared earnestly at each one for an entire minute and then scooted towards them. I was anxious to see which one she would choose. She reached out her little arm and swept all the items aside and crawled into my arms. I didn't even know I was a choice. I sat there, cradling her in my arms and wept.
One Reply to It's My Honor to Be Her Father
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Scott Hardie | June 27, 2020
Great story, Steve. I can't imagine all of the emotions that you and Brenda are going through right now. Kelly and I wish all of you the best in this transition and beyond.