Daddies are for catching fireflies.

Tonight I head a song that really hit home for me.  It hit home in a lot of ways very personal to me.  It was pretty crazy.  If I was to write a song for Preslie at this moment in time, it would have been this song.  It could not have been more true than if I had written it myself.  The song was "Firefly" by Ed Sheeran.

I miss my Daughter Preslie every minute when she is away.  She is my light in the darkness.  She is my love when I have felt like I have nothing else to give.  She is easily the best thing I have ever done in this life.  She makes me desire to be a better man and my reason to get out of bed.

There are times when missing her really gets to me too.  Some of the worst times are when I only have her for just one night.  It's never enough!  The worst part of those nights, is knowing that I have to take her back to her Mom the next morning, and then I won't see her again for another week.  Kids need their parents.  Parents need their children too. 

When Preslie is away, I have trouble sleeping.  I'm restless.  I get anxiety and can't relax.  I miss her snuggles.  I miss her tiny kisses.  I miss reading her a story at bedtime.  I miss everything. 

When I do have Preslie, I try to keep certain routines, so that she has some normalcy.  Kids need that.  Kids need consistency, routine, and love.  One part of our routine is our bedtime story.  I let her pick a book, but she usually ends up picking two.  More often than not, she tends to pick the same couple of books.  One of those books, which has become a personal favorite of mine is a book called:

Daddies Are For Catching Fireflies.

If you take the time to read the book, you can easily understand why anyone would love this book for their kids.  There are a number of reasons why this book is special to Preslie and I.  For starters, Preslie has this book memorized.  No joke.  She loves to "read" this book to me.  Preslie also loves butterflies, fireflies, and any other kind of bug or animal that she can catch.  She has a special bug net and even an adventure vest she has to bring whenever we go camping.  Whenever she decides to read this book to me, she snuggles up extra close, and always gives me kisses when she's done.  Most recently, she discovered the light on my iPhone.  We'll read this book, then turn off the light in the room, and then do hand puppets with the light from my iPhone on the ceiling to make fireflies and other "muppets".  These are some of my happiest moments.

Sometimes, it is really hard for me to let her go.  I just want to hold her and hold her to show her how much I love her.  I think that she knows when I'm feeling this way, because she'll hug me extra tight.  Then we have a special kiss.  She'll tell me, "Dad, let's do the biggest kiss!".  Then she'll take a super deep breath and then try to give me a kiss for as long as she can while she holds her breath and goes "MMMMMMmmmmmmwuah!!!".  It's one of my favorite things in the whole world.  There is no better love than the love of your child.

Tonight was definitely a lonely night.  I must have listened to this song  at least 10 times in a row.  Absolutely beautiful.