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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Love (04/27/06)
Their Time to Shine

After 19 years, I was going to do the thing that I had always said that I wouldn’t do. God had given me peace about it today, and I knew that it was time. I had tried to talk my daughter out of it, but she would not hear of it. She told me that she knew that she was in love, and she knew that he was the one.

I fastened my cummerbund and looked into the full length mirror. Pulling on my tuxedo coat I only let one tear fall unchecked. It would be the only one that I’d allow. This was supposed to be a happy day. My baby would be starting the first day of the rest of her life. Why did it have to happen so quickly? I can still hear her sweet voice saying her nightly prayers, “Lord, please send me a man to marry that’s just like my daddy.” It was so sweet then, she started praying that prayer when she was twelve years old. Still just a baby, but her grandmother had told her to start praying for a husband while she was young. She believed it was the only way to get the ‘man of her dreams’. I can say now that I’m glad she said that prayer so many times.

Further back into my memory is a smaller girl, only five, on her first day of Kindergarten. She didn’t want to let go of my hand. She hid her little body behind my legs. Her face was the only thing her teacher saw as she tried to entice her into the school room where she would meet her first ‘boyfriend’. How cute they were back then, a little boy and a little girl, holding hands on the playground as they ran around laughing. My smile fades as I remember where I am. One final look into the mirror and then I walk to the door.

I stop before my hand reaches the knob. I offer one last prayer for my little girl before I go to her. “Lord, bless my little girl today. She has grown into a beautiful lady. She will meet the man that she’s prayed for at the altar today and they will come together as one. Help this man take care of my baby and help him to love her for the rest of her life.”

I leave the room, and stop at the next door. She is waiting for me. Her smile lights the room as the door opens and I bid her to take my arm.

We walk down the aisle together, and stop before the man of her dreams. I hear the preacher say, “Who giveth this woman to marry this man?” I answer, “Her mother and I”. My part is over. It is their time to shine.
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This article has been read 1039 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Edy T Johnson
05/09/06
This is a satisfying read, for the most part. Just one question from the first paragraph sort of dangled unanswered. A good hook to keep your reader, but I wondered why the dad had said this daughter's wedding was something "that I had always said that I wouldn’t do." Maybe he was "just kidding!" but that didn't come through, either. Good writing, nonetheless!
Virginia Gorg
05/09/06
Why would a father not want to walk his daughter down the aisle? But I like this story, as if a dad was writing in his diary. Nice work.
Jacquelyn Horne
04/14/07
I'm just "cruising" around to different challenge articles. I really liked this. So emotional.