Her hair up in a pony tail, her favorite dress tied with a bow ~ its Daddy's Day at school, and she couldn't wait to go. But her mommy tried to tell her that she probably should stay home. Why the kids might not understand, if she went to school alone. But she was not afraid; she knew just what to say, what to tell her classmates, on this Daddy's Day. But still her mother worried for her to face this day alone, and that was why once again, she tried to keep her daughter home. 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 daddies along the wall in back, for everyone to meet. Children squirming impatiently, anxious in their seats. One by one the teacher called students from the class, to introduce their daddy, as seconds slowly passed. At last the teacher called her name, every child turned to stare. Each of them were searching, for a man who wasn't there. "Where's her daddy?" she heard a boy call out. "She probably doesn't have one", another student shouted. And from somewhere near the back, she heard a daddy say, "Looks like another deadbeat dad, too busy to waste his day." The words did not offend her. She smiled at her friends and looked back at her teacher, who told her to begin.

Slowly, with hands behind her back, she began to speak, and out from the mouth of a child, came words incredibly unique: "My Daddy couldn't be here, because he lives so far away, but I know he wishes he could be with me on this day. And though you cannot meet him now, I wanted you to know all about him, and how much he loves me. He loves to tell me stories, He taught me to ride my bike, He surprised me with pink roses, and taught me to fly a kite. We used to share fudge sundaes and ice cream in a cone, and even though you cannot see Him, I'm not standing here alone 'Cause my Daddy's always with me, even though we are apart; I know because He told me, He'll forever be here in my heart."

With that her little hand reached up, and lay across her chest, feeling her own 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 of a man not in her life, doing what was best for her, doing what was right. And when she dropped her hand back down, staring straight into the crowd, she finished with a voice so soft, but it's message clear and loud: "I love my Daddy very much. He's my shining star, and if he could, he'd be here, but heavens just too far. Sometimes when I close my eyes, it's like He never went away." Then she closed her eyes and saw Him there that day, and to her mother's amazement, she witnessed with surprise, a room full of daddies and children, all starting to close their eyes. Who knows what they saw before them, who knows what they felt inside Perhaps for merely a second, they saw Him at her side.

"I know you're with me Daddy", to the silence she called out, and what happened next made believers, of those once filled with doubt. Not one in that room could explain it, for each of their eyes had been closed, but there placed on her desktop, was a beautiful fragrant pink rose. And a child was blessed, if only for a moment, by the love of her Shining Bright Star and given the gift of believing, that "Heaven is never too far away."

By Cheryl Costello-Forshey