Daddy's Girl

I can count on one hand the number of singers whose voices give me chills. The first singer to have that effect on me was former Chicago lead vocalist, Peter Cetera.

Among the reasons for Peter's 1985 departure from Chicago was a desire to tour less so he could spend more time with his wife and his daughter-- eighteen years of touring can wear thin after awhile. On each of Peter's albums since his daughter, Claire's, birth he's included a song for her.

And while I'm not necessarily a fan of all of the music Peter has chosen to perform since his departure from Chicago, I'm still a tremendous fan of his voice and have a deep respect for the choices he's made in his life and career.

Now that I'm a father of a little girl myself, his father/daughter songs strike a particular nerve with me. I've taken to singing Peter's lullaby for his daughter, One More Story to Samantha before bed:

One more story then its time for bed
One more fairy tale, then rest your weary head
One more kiss, I’ll turn out the light
Everything is gonna be alright

I’ll still be here when you wake up in the mornin’
Close your eyes say goodnight

Go to sleep now, you’ve had a busy day
Hold me in your dreams, I won’t be far away
One more kiss, I’ll turn out the lights
Everything is gonna be alright

I’ll still be here when you wake up in the morning
Close your eyes, say goodnight

I can’t believe just how fast you’re growin’
I’m gonna cry when you’re old enough to go
And be on your own
But until that very moment
Everything is gonna be alright

You’ll still be here when I wake up in the mornin’
Close your eyes, say goodnight
Everything is gonna be alright

For all intents and purposes, Sammie is definitely showing signs of being a Daddy's girl. She enjoys watching hockey and football with me (in all fairness this is probably more due to the bright colorful uniforms against the white and green backgrounds respectively). She's also a bit of a night owl, much like I was growing up. She's perpetually happy and rather easy-going like me too.

I'm loving every day of fatherhood. I love watching Sammie grow and develop. I look forward to seeing the woman she'll grow up to be, but at the same time I'm in no hurry for that to happen. I treasure watching all of her firsts and making her smile and laugh. She makes leaving for work in the morning that much harder and returning home afterwards to be that much sweeter. It's bittersweet, as she achieves each first knowing that she'll never have that "first" again.