For the first couple of years of her life, to say that she was mommy’s girl would be a massive understatement. The running joke was that if Julie had been a kangaroo, Cadence would have probably crawled back into her pouch and stayed there until college.
More than that, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. Zero. Zip. Nada. That is, until a random trip to Waco, Texas, and the Dr. Pepper Museum. We were driving from St. Louis to Houston to visit my brother and his family, breaking up the trip by making random stops here and there along the way – Tulsa, for a minor league baseball game, Fort Worth, to tour the seminary there, and then Waco, to visit a friend from high school, but just as importantly, to see THE Dr. Pepper Museum.
If you’ve ever been to the World of Coke in Atlanta, simply make it a little more “down home” and you’ve got an idea of the Dr. Pepper experience. With that in mind, the tour ends with a trip to the ice cream parlor where one of the treats on the menu is a Dr. Pepper ice cream float.
For whatever reason, Julie and Stevens (our oldest) had taken off to see something else, leaving Cadence and me alone. So I did what any intelligent father would do… I got her a float! And when she finished that one, and the others weren’t back yet… I got her a second one!
Something changed that day (and not just because I bribed my daughter with ice cream and soda!) Sitting at that table, enjoying our floats, we began a new journey. And I fell in love (all over again) with this remarkable little girl who would continue to capture my heart in more ways than I could ever communicate. Today is the day she’s jumping out of the pouch. That remarkable little girl is becoming a remarkable young woman, and Julie and I couldn’t be prouder. And today we trust God again, just like we did 18+ years ago when He entrusted her with us. (for those who aren’t following, we just dropped her off at college)
What an incredible privilege and immense responsibility God has given us to protect and pour into these lives! What a joy it is when we see them following after Him! Thanks for letting a proud dad ramble… We love you CayCay,
daddy