Wedding bells
My daughter Catherine Clare – known as just Clare by most – got married Saturday.
She is now Catherine Clare Hetherington.
I have all the feelings that a father has on “losing” his first daughter. Pride, joy, mild sadness, concern, wistful happiness, and so on.
There are many joyful memories of the last two days, but one stands out. A joke – but a joke with meaning and affection.
I’m not much of a dancer – other than foolishness in the living room, or with my fingers while driving a car. But I love music – I sing and play guitar, and I’ve composed a few songs (including one for the wedding that I could not sing because of a viral infection. Sigh.)
For our father-daughter dance, she chose “Be-bop-a-lula.” She didn’t tell me in advance, so when the music started, I burst out laughing.
That was a song I used to sing when she and her sisters were babies and I was changing their diapers.
Well, Be bop a Lula she's my baby,
Be bop a lula , i don't mean maybe
Well, Be bop a Lula she's my baby,
Be bop a lula, I don't mean maybe,Be bop a lula,
She's my baby doll, my baby doll, my baby doll.
The song brought back so many memories. Giggle fits while changing diapers, singing her to sleep at two in the morning (“Hush little baby…”), bath time, telling her bed-time stories about the “trunk world” where she and her sisters were princesses (sorry for stealing so much from you C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien), letting her put dozens of barrettes in my hair and beard, etc.
I smile now at the thought that she had the love and sense of humor to choose that song for our dance.
The happiest moment in my life was 22 years ago when I first held her in the delivery room just after she was born.
That dance yesterday ranks up there.
She is now Catherine Clare Hetherington.
I have all the feelings that a father has on “losing” his first daughter. Pride, joy, mild sadness, concern, wistful happiness, and so on.
There are many joyful memories of the last two days, but one stands out. A joke – but a joke with meaning and affection.
I’m not much of a dancer – other than foolishness in the living room, or with my fingers while driving a car. But I love music – I sing and play guitar, and I’ve composed a few songs (including one for the wedding that I could not sing because of a viral infection. Sigh.)
For our father-daughter dance, she chose “Be-bop-a-lula.” She didn’t tell me in advance, so when the music started, I burst out laughing.
That was a song I used to sing when she and her sisters were babies and I was changing their diapers.
Well, Be bop a Lula she's my baby,
Be bop a lula , i don't mean maybe
Well, Be bop a Lula she's my baby,
Be bop a lula, I don't mean maybe,Be bop a lula,
She's my baby doll, my baby doll, my baby doll.
The song brought back so many memories. Giggle fits while changing diapers, singing her to sleep at two in the morning (“Hush little baby…”), bath time, telling her bed-time stories about the “trunk world” where she and her sisters were princesses (sorry for stealing so much from you C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien), letting her put dozens of barrettes in my hair and beard, etc.
I smile now at the thought that she had the love and sense of humor to choose that song for our dance.
The happiest moment in my life was 22 years ago when I first held her in the delivery room just after she was born.
That dance yesterday ranks up there.
posted by A Secular Franciscan | 2:24 PM
4 Comments:
Congratulations! What a nice story, it made me cry...you obviously did a great job raising a thoughtful daughter.
congratulations! what a wonderful story and you are blessed to be her wonderful father :)
Congratulations! I think of that day coming for our girls and it seems very bittersweet ... just as your story did. I'm having enough trouble right now thinking of Hannah leaving for college in a year. So I'll just take one step at a time. :-)
Beautiful story. Congratulations!
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