I waited near the folding chairs for over twenty minutes, watching the father-daughter dance start without my dad. Everyone was dancing\u2014even the<\/p>\n
janitor, Mr. Wheeler, who looked so happy with his niece. Just when I thought he wouldn\u2019t come, the door creaked open. Wearing jeans, his vest, and<\/p>\n
his usual hat, my dad\u2019s eyes met mine, full of regret. \u201cYou\u2019re late,\u201d I said. He gave me a rose and said, \u201cI had to stop somewhere first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d I asked. He paused, then said, \u201cI wanted to make sure she wouldn\u2019t stop us from having this night.\u201d I knew he meant mom. They divorced<\/p>\n
years ago, and things have been rough since. I told her I wouldn\u2019t miss another father-daughter dance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That night was amazing. I forgot he was late because he was truly present. On the way home, he told me, \u201cMom\u2019s moving to St. Louis and wants you to<\/p>\n
go with her, but I won\u2019t let that happen if you don\u2019t want to.\u201d I froze. Moving wasn\u2019t what I wanted. All my friends and school were here. \u201cDon\u2019t worry<\/p>\n
now. We\u2019ll see how things go,\u201d he said, stopping for pizza.<\/p>\n
Soon after, mom sought sole custody, dad fought it, and the court let me decide. I explained that dad wasn\u2019t always there but fully committed when he<\/p>\n
was, and mom sometimes didn\u2019t listen. I chose to stay with dad. Mom was sad but accepted it and visited on weekends. Now in college, I have good<\/p>\n
relationships with both parents. Most importantly, they\u2019re there for me. Since that dance, dad has never missed showing up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I waited near the folding chairs for over twenty minutes, watching the father-daughter dance start without my dad. Everyone was dancing\u2014even the janitor, Mr. Wheeler, who looked… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance"],"yoast_head":"\n