Monday, August 27, 2007

The Golden Girls

Nope. I'm not referring to the television sitcom from the mid 80's featuring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty. Believe it or not, I'm going to be serious for a few moments.

I'm blonde and I married a blonde. As a result, we have three more blondies running around the house. So, three of the five blondes in our house are girls. While they can all be very different from one another, they share more than their GOLDEN hair. They are compassionate, loyal and require lots of watering and sunshine--how do you think they got so golden? I could go on an on about this, but I won't.

I simply want to share about my own little blunder last night and how much one of my little golden girls was waiting on me, loyally, for what she needed. I let her stay up a bit late to watch a movie and gave her my word that I'd tuck her in when it was over. Not wanting me to forget, she called up for me when the movie was over. About a half hour later, she came downstairs to check on me as I still hadn't tucked her in. I was in the middle of a very important project (not really--but that's how I made it sound) and told her to just be patient and that I'd be up. Two hours later I looked up at the clock--finished with my stupid project--and realized what I had done. I ran upstairs to see if I still had a chance to kiss her good night and pray with her.

The door was closed, but the light was still on. I quietly walked in to see her lying in bed, asleep with the light on and with her fan off. All of my kids sleep with a fan. I'm certain she didn't turn it on because she wanted to wait for me--which also explains why the light was on. She waited as long as she could until her eyelids gave out on her and she dozed off. I had let her down. I turned on her fan, flicked off the light and kissed her forehead. She woke up, startled at first, and then smiled at me while telling me how sleepy she felt. She probably didn't know that she had been waiting there for me, asleep, for two hours. I was forgiven. In fact, I'm not even sure that she was ever upset with me. But I knew that I had blown it.

She's probably willing to go through the process all over again, but every time she'll grow a little more weary. Eventually, she'll grow up, move out and lose the felt need for a daddy altogether. But not if there's anything I can do about it.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

This post brings tears to my eyes. You sure do know how to make a girl feel loved, Mr. Shumway.

Anonymous said...

Aw gee, thanks a LOT! Do ya think maybe next time you could warn us with, oh I don't know, something like FLASHING LIGHTS AND A "MUST HAVE KLEENEX HANDY" sign? Just a thought. ;)

This post broke my heart. Not because you blew it. But because we're human and you were transparent about that. It's moments like these that leave our hearts completely exposed, that connect us so deeply with our loved ones that it's hard to even put it into words. Though you did well to try.

Thanks for the much needed reminder to keep my focus. What a sincere post and a great lesson for all. Now I'm gonna grab that Kleenex.
Blessings,
~Toni~

Uvulapie said...

I refrain from leaving a comment for fear of ruining the mood.

Unknown said...

I have to agree with your wife and Toni. A little warning have been good. While I'm not a mother, I am the world's best auntie - except I have done exactly what you described and still regret it to this day. Every time I see that child I grab her up in my arms and just hug, kiss her and tell her how much I love her.

Wani said...

How surprising to read the big doofus blog and get choked up. Even the best dads and moms make mistakes. Though often its so hard to admit when we have failed. Thank you for sharing.

jan said...

I wanted to leave a comment at the time you posted this, but was too choked up over James' leaving to even write. At the time, we were making a list of all our "would'ves, could'ves, should'ves" with him. Anyway, thanks for sharing. You are a sweet dad! :-)
JtR