Dear Shannon,
I heard the song “ Butterfly Kisses” on the radio today, and it made me think of you. As you know the song is about a special love between dads and daughters. As the song says: “ Two things I know for sure: she was sent here from heaven, and she’s Daddy’s little girl.”
For you see Shannon, you are a very precious gift from above. A person would have to be blind not to see the master hand at work in your conception, your birth, and your growing up.

There are two days in your life I will always remember. The first was the day of your birth, when your mother, the doctor and I shared the experience of watching you come into the world. The hard work of delivery, the bright, sterile room, the fears of the unknown were all swept away by the sight of a beautiful baby girl. Holding you that day, so pink with life, remains in my memory as a miracle.

You were not just any baby girl, you were the one I prayed for. It is difficult to describe in words the feelings I had as I held you, looked into your tiny face, and realized that you  were here, and you were ours. My heart felt as if it would burst.

There is another day that also remains in my mind and I would say that it was far and away the most difficult day of my entire life. I had to sit down with my precious 7 year old daughter and tell her I was moving away. As much as I adored you, as dear to my heart as you and Lauren were to me, we would no longer be living in the same house. We would no longer be a family. Your mother and I were getting a divorce and I was moving 3,000 miles away.

In the months and years that have followed, I never have quite adjusted our new way of life. I have tried very hard to assure my little girl, now you are 16, that I will always love you, and that I will always be here  for you. But somehow, in spite of everything, a terrible pain remains in my heart. Sometimes at night I lie in my bed crying, and missing you and wishing I could still tuck you in bed at night.

I hope somehow, some way that you really know how much I love you and Lauren. I hope I have managed to communicate that much to you. No matter what the circumstances you have been forced to live with, you will always be Daddy’s little girl. I will always love and adore you.

Love,
Dad