I had planned this moment since she was a baby.As her daddy put her down for a nap, he'd lay her down in her crib, remove her high-top baby shoes, and massage her pudgy little feet. As as he rubbed her feet, he sang a song to her. It was the same song every time, "Scarlet Ribbons". He never knew I listened, but I did...and I swore then that this would be the song they danced to at her wedding.
At the reception, Carrie and Nate danced their dance, and then it was my turn to speak. I had kept this whole thing a secret from everyone, except for telling Carrie that I was picking out the father-daughter dance song; and if she wanted to pick out her own song, she'd just have to dance with her dad twice. She decided to go with my surprise.
It was my mom's idea to have this special person sing the father-daughter dance song, but she had another song in mind. I told Mom it was a good idea, but it would be another song, "Scarlet Ribbons". The special person we asked to sing the song was my husband's 88-year-old father Charlie. So after a lot of secret practicing, we were ready.
I took the microphone and told the story about how Leroy sang this song as he put her down for her nap, and how I had decided that would be the song for their special dance. T
hen I announced who would be singing the song. Charlie came up to the dance floor and I handed him the microphone. Carrie immediately started crying.Charlie sang the song with no accompaniment. He said that's how Leroy sang the song to her, so he was going to sing it the same way. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. I believe it was the most touching father-daughter dance I've ever seen. Luckily, we captured it on video and I still cry when I see it.
Last June we lost Charlie. He peacefully passed away in his sleep at the age of 92. He was in his own bed in his own house, and I'm sure this is just the way he wanted to go. I'm so glad that 150 people got to witness this sweet man giving such a special gift to his granddaughter and his son.
Bless you, Charlie. We miss you.
3 comments:
We're in Arizona.
It's a dry place, ya know?
A little less dry now, thank you.
Yeah GB. Bloomington practically was flooded with all the tears when Charlie sang the song. It was the sweet shaky voice without one instrument. I have the video. I should find it and convert it to a downloadable video so we can all have a good cry.
Charlie's musical "career" has quite a story that I'm sure Cissy has on her list of things to write about.
My husband was stoic through the whole dance. When we got home the next day, I asked him how he kept from crying. Then he admitted to me that he cried the entire hour-long drive home.
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