Something in my eye

OK, I'm a big softy.  So what?

The nickname I use was given to me by my oldest when he was just barely old enough to talk.  Our favorite movie at the time was "Jungle Book" and Mowglie calls Baloo "Papa Bear" a few times.  Junior morphed that into "DaddyBear" when I started reading him the children's version of the Jungle Book, and it stuck.

When I deployed to Bosnia in 1996, my ex and I sat down and recorded me reading a bunch of bed time stories.  That's always been my favorite thing to do as a dad, and I wanted Junior to get his daily share of "Green Eggs and Ham" while I was away.  Reports are that he asked for DaddyBear to read to him every night I was gone.  I wish I still had that tape.

What this soldier is trying to do is stay in touch with his young daughter during one of the most important times in her life.  Apparently it's doing some good, because she can still recognize him and tries to interact with his image instead of just sitting and watching.

I wish this father and every other parent who is deployed good luck and a safe return.  Hopefully this little girl won't remember that her dad was gone, but will have a great connection to her father.

Tonight, when Boo and I curl up with "Hop on Pop", I'll remember how lucky I am to have never been away from him for more than a couple of nights, which I can't say for his brothers and sister, and how many other fathers are away from their kids tonight.

H/T to Danger Room for this one.