One moment in time

When Adelaide was 7 weeks old, she and I flew to Oklahoma so she could meet my family there... or, so the family could meet her. We knew my Grandma was sick and probably wouldn't live much longer, but I wanted her to meet Adelaide so bad. While we were there that weekend, we travelled to Arkansas so Grandma could meet her Rose Bud.

Our flight landed in Tulsa on Wednesday, February 25, and my dad and I had already decided that he would pick us up from the airport and we could hang out for the day. This was also his first time to meet sweet Adelaide. He and my step-mom, Robbi, picked us up at TUL in a limo, no less, that someone from my dad's work had 'loaned' to him for the day, complete with a cowboy driver who probably hadn't been to Tulsa in 10 years. We drove into town to a bead store and Robbi got out to look at beads for making jewelry. This was a hobby she picked up recently and she didn't get out of the house much because of her sickness, so this was a good day for her to be able to do so many things. My dad, Adelaide, and I waited in the limo while Robbi did a little shopping. It was a wonderful few minutes, where dad held Adelaide and I think this is when he fell in love with her.

When Robbi was done in the bead store, we headed to Pryor where my dad was working at Eggbert's at the time. We went there to have lunch and it was the first time for Robbi or myself to see where dad was working. While there, I nursed Adelaide in my dad's office and ate a delicious breakfast/lunch! (One that did not sit so well with Adelaide from the grease.) The limo then took us back to Claremore to my dad's house where I spent the rest of the afternoon. Robbi's mom, Pat, came over to see Adelaide and she couldn't get enough of her. Robbi was able to stay in the living room with us for a little while, but eventually got pretty tired and had to go lay down. This is when my dad and I had a few minutes alone with Adelaide.

"I want to be a part of her life," he said, tears in his eyes. I was crying, too, as we both knew what he meant. He wanted to be a part of her life as he wasn't there for a big portion of my life. "I do, too, dad," I finally managed the words out of my mouth.

Neither of us knew at the time that it wasn't going to happen. As much as we both wanted, he wouldn't be able to be a part of Adelaide's - or my - life much longer.