6-11-09

The call of my biggest fan can be heard from afar, “Haaaaay Daa-de!”

How many people can say that they hold rock star status. Not too many, but I can.
I have heard people say that the relationship between a baby girl and her daddy is something unique and special. On the radio, not too long ago, I heard the hosts talking about how excited one of their daughters got when he came through the door in the evening. He said that it was almost like he had been gone for a month the way she got so excited.
In the past, when I came home, it was a very lack-luster event. A “Hello, how was your day?” from my wife. Ethan, while staring at cartoons on the TV, would mumble a robotic “Hey.”
Now that my daughter is here, my greetings have escalated to pure enthusiasm. It is more along the lines of when a child knows that someone is bringing a present over to them.
The funny thing is that no matter where I go or how long I have been away, she is thoroughly excited when I come back in the room.
There are times that I leave for the afternoon on a Saturday and come back to the house a few hours later. As soon as I open the front door and head up the stairs, I can hear her little feet running through the house and making her way to the gate at the top of the stairs. All the while yelling, “Haaaaay Daa-de!” in a muffled speech with her pacifier dangling out of her mouth.
No matter how long I am out of her sight, the reaction is always the same.
If I take the trash out and come back in, “Haaaaay Daa-de!”
If I go to get something out of my car and come back in, “Haaaaay Daa-de!”
If I walk down the hall to go to the bathroom and come back in the room, “Haaaaay Daa-de!”
Slowly I have realized that Nash is a true daddy’s girl. She will sit on my lap in the evening and watch the History Channel with me when no one else will. She sits there spinning her pacifier around, switching it out only for a sippy-cup full of milk. She will stop, look up at me, and smile.
When I ask her, “Who loves their daddy?” She responds, “Meeeeeeee” or, “Mine do.”
As time goes by I know this rock star status will fade away and she is going to be interested in everything else but her daddy. For now I will take it all in. I love being the person that makes her so excited. I just hope I can live up to it when she gets older and realizes that I am just a dad and not a star.
I have a sticker on my motorcycle helmet that says, “Lord, let me be the person that my dog thinks I am.”
I think of her every time I read it, not that she reminds me of a dog, it just reminds me that I need all the help I can get in order to live up to her image of me.
A lot of time has passed since I was actually living like a rock star. The days of going to clubs all night to see bands play are a thing of the past. I miss them from time to time but things are different now.
A new corner in my life has been rounded. My whirlwind, rock star weekends consist of playing dolls, coloring, and watching Nemo.
Nash wouldn’t have it any other way and neither would I. After all, who wants to see a thirty-six year old try to act like a rock star... except Nash, of course
Bryan Pinkey can be reached at bpinkey@nccox.com.