But To Him, I'll Always Be His Little Girl

Dennis Mack Byram
My father, my daddy, my role model,
the only man who has ever stayed right by my side.
My hero.


Sometimes you're asleep I whisper "I love you"
in the moonlight at your door.
As I walk away, I hear you say
"Daddy, I love you more!"
-tm

We're the same, you and me.
Eating peas, cottage cheese, or fruit salad would be torture.
We can't STAND Kobe Bryant.
Just running to work out is totally boring, we would both go play basketball or tennis if we had the chance.
We're definitely not emotional people.. Unlike momma ;)
We use song lyrics to express our feelings.
We play our instruments for hours when we're frustrated or worried.
(You'd go for your guitar, I'd go for my piano.)
We think that the perfect weekend would consist of fishing out at the lake all day until the sun went down.
We'll both yell at the TV when the ref calls a terrible call.
We laugh really loud.
And when we do laugh, you can barely see our eyes because they're squinty.
We're the same, you and me.

You tucked me in turned out the light, kept me safe and sound at night. Little girls depend on things like that. Brushed my teeth and combed my hair, had to drive me everywhere. You were always there when I looked back. And when I couldn't sleep at night, scared things wouldn't turn out right, you would hold my hand and sing to me:
"Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you'll be. Can't go far but you can always dream. Wish you may and wish you might, don't you worry, hold on tight. I promise you that there will come a day. Butterfly fly away.."

A musical family.
I was born with a microphone in my hand and grew up with a keyboard in my lap.
No matter how many times you tried to teach me how to play guitar, though, for some reason I could just never get the hang of it. Lesson after lesson, day after day, I tried. But we both kinda gave up on that. :)

She spins and she sways to whatever song plays, without a care in the world.
And I'm sitting here wearing the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It's been a long day and there's still work to do.
She's pulling at me saying "Dad, I need you,
There's a ball at the castle and I've been invited
And I need to practice my dancing!
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"
So I will dance with Cinderella, while she is here in my arms,
'Cause I know something the prince never knew.
I will dance with Cinderella, I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x-XyTUbkF4

I can recall seeing you cry three times in my entire lifetime.
Number one: I walked into your room one day to find that you were sitting on the edge of your bed watching Ronald Reagan's funeral on TV. I saw some tears.
Number two: When mom and I picked you up from your Emmaus walk.
Number three: The other day, you gave me the complete story on Uncle David. You told me stories of when y'all were kids. How he taught you to play guitar. How y'all were pretty much brothers and grew up together... And how you felt when you found out that you would never see him again because he had died in the war in Vietnam.. But that time was different than all the others.. We cried together.

The memories we have shared together can never be replaced. Nor will they ever be replaced.
You made all the small things in life mean the most to me. Not knowing then what I know now, you made life worth living.
I remember standing there, barefoot in a t-shirt, with my hands and face pressed to the glass door around 5:30 every day, waiting for that Chevy truck to pull in the drive way after work. You would come up to the closed door, squat down, take off your ball cap, look down at me and smile that big smile of yours, and put your hands against mine.. That always made me smile.
I remember you helping me string my first fishing pole. I was more amused by the squishy bait than I was actually catching a fish. When we finally got settled we would sit on the bank, talk about school and Jesus, whatever came to mind, and eat peanuts bag after bag. Momma wasn't too thrilled that we had spoiled our appetite for dinner.. ;)
I remember going to the petting zoo at the fair and we came up to the donkey. We looked at the sign next to it and it said, "Hi, my name is Kathy"... Needless to say, we made fun of momma that whole week... To this day we still make fun of her for it. ;)

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
~ Joshua 24:15

Momma cut out pictures of houses for years
From 'Better Homes and Gardens' magazines.
Plans were drawn and concrete poured,
Nail by nail, and board by board,
Daddy gave life to momma's dream.
Won't take nothin' but a memory
From the house that built me.

My daddy is the greatest,
The best dad there ever was.
He always brings me lots of joy,
He’s my very own Santa Claus.My daddy can do anything,
He’s smart as smart can be.
I love to walk and hold his hand
To show he belongs to me.

When you were in trouble that crooked little smile could melt my heart of stone
Now look at you, I've turned around and you've almost grown.
Someday, some boy will come and ask me for your hand
But I won't say "yes" to him unless I know,
He's the half that makes you whole, he has a poet's soul, and the heart of a man's man.
I know he'll say that he's in love
But between you and me
He won't be good enough.
Your beautiful baby from the outside in
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again
Go on, take on this whole world
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I5UV4VWCSk

"No matter what, you must always love your family more than you love the almighty dollar"
-DMB :)