Father-Daughter Dates

I want to share with you what an incredible dad Mike Grant is to me:


Since I was a little girl, I've always looked up to my dad. He has this joy in his life that is contagious and you always want to be around him. I remember as a little girl my dad wanted to take me on my very first date! I remember I got a new dress (red and white stripe) for the occasion and we dined at Ruby Tuesdays! I remember how much fun it was to spend that one on one time with my dad. Little did I know that these dates would become a tradition for us and something I always looked forward to. Throughout growing up, dad would always make time for me....just me...on these father/daughter dates.

My most memorable father/daughter date was when I was in college. Dad's cancer had returned and the prognosis wasn't very good. I came home from school one weekend to have dinner with the family and finish the evening with a father-daughter date. Dad and I spent time at a coffee shop talking about life, school, and my future. When we finished our coffee, he said he had somewhere he wanted to take me and it was a surprise. I remember thinking that dad was going to take me dancing somewhere....something we both enjoyed as we had been to many father-daughter dances at our church. Instead, dad pulled the car into our church parking lot. I was sure that dad wanted to pray with me there. When we walked into the Narthex of the church, there was a bouquet of sunflowers (my favorite flower). He handed me the bouquet and told that he understood how hard it was for me knowing that he might not be able to walk me down the wedding aisle one day. That was my dream...something I always wanted my daddy to do for me as I met my groom. Dad told me that it was his dream too....he desired to one day walk me down the aisle as well. He told me he wanted to walk me down the aisle that night! As we opened the doors to the sanctuary, the church was already decorated for a wedding which was to take place the next day. My dad walked me down the aisle and where I would meet my future groom, was my entire family. It was an emotional time, but a very special time. To know that the experience and moment was just as important to him as it was to me showed me how much he truly loved me as his daughter.

The Lord is good. He knows the desires of our hearts and this prayer He answered. Dad was able to officially walk me down the aisle on October 7, 2007.