Cupcake sent me the below article while I was in DC for a face-to-face, bayonet-distance hearing (my favorite) before a really great Veterans Law Judge yesterday afternoon. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In my business, a face-to-face hearing is worth a thousand pictures. Creating empathy for a Veteran’s  incredible travails is the very essence of litigating- the je ne sais quoi, if you will. It’s the only thing I can hazard a guess on (outside of  my pure, ornery persistence) to explain my extraordinary successes in this VA poker game we play.

I gotta tell you it’s a good thing I didn’t read this article right before my hearing yesterday or I might have turned into a puddle of tears. Read on.

Daddy Day at School

As Told By Linda Lindley

Her hair was tied up in a pony tail. Her favorite dress tied with a bow. Today was Daddy’s Day at school, and she couldn’t wait to go.  Her mother tried to convince her she should probably stay home. The kids might not understand if she went to school alone. But she wasn’t afraid. She knew just what to say-what to tell her classmates-about why he wasn’t there, too. Still, her mother worried how she would face this day alone. And that was the primary reason she was trying to dissuade her from going.

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 dads lined up against the back wall of the classroom for everyone to meet. Children were squirming impatiently for their turn-anxious in their seats. One by one the teacher called on a student from the class to introduce their dad. As the minutes slowly passed, the teacher finally called her name.

Every child turned to stare. Each of them searched the room 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 child dared to say. And from somewhere near the back, she heard one father say in a low voice to another “Probably another deadbeat dad. Too busy to waste his day.” Other fathers nodded in agreement.

The comments didn’t offend her. She gazed out at her mom and then looked back at her teacher who encouraged her to go on. And with her hands behind her back, slowly she began to speak. And out of her mouth came words incredibly moving. “My daddy couldn’t be here today because he lives so far away. But I know he wishes he could be here since this is such a special day. Unfortunately, you can’t meet him but I wanted you to know all about him and how much he loves me.”

“He loved to tell me stories. He taught me to ride my  bike. We used to share sundaes and ice cream cones. He liked to surprise me with pink roses and taught me how to fly a kite. And though you can’t see him, I’m not standing up here alone. ‘Cause my daddy’s always with me. Even though we’re apart, I know-because he told me. He said he’d forever be in my heart.” With that, her little hand reached up and lay across her heart feeling his 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 a man who was not in her life-doing what was best for her; doing what was right. As she dropped her hand back to her side, she stared straight into the crowded room. She finished with a voice so soft but its message was clear and loud.

“I love my daddy very much. He’s my shining star. And if he could, he’d be here today. But Heaven is just too far away. He was a soldier and he died last year when a roadside bomb hit his convoy. But sometimes when I close my eyes, it’s like he never went away.” And then she closed her eyes, looked up and saw him right there by her side. To her mother’s amazement, she watched in surprise as a room full of fathers and children all closed their eyes as well.

Who knows what they saw before them. Who knows what they felt inside. Perhaps  they saw him at her side, too. Into the silence, she whispered “I know you’re here with me, daddy.” And what happened next perhaps made believers.

All those derisive, who only moments before were quick to rush to judgement, were silent. For each, even with their eyes closed, could almost envisage a long-stemmed rose on the teacher’s desk beside her. That little girl, if only for a moment, was blessed by the love of her shining star. She was blessed with the gift of believing that Heaven is far closer than we could ever conceive.

If you have a minute next week or so, how about you post this to let everyone know that our soldiers, sailors  and airmen will hopefully never be too far away in our thoughts… or forgotten after they pass. Honor them while they live.

Happy Veterans Day early to my readership. And in the immortal words of Forest Gump,  “That’s all I have to say about that.”