Thursday, August 5, 2010

Footprints of a Princess

This morning an email came in from my dad:

"Bugsly, (what he calls me), I suppose you know me better than anyone, so I’ll tell you a little story about how life can change even those who are set in their ways. As you’re aware, I’m sort of a neat freak and like everything clean and organized. I’ve been known to drive others crazy with this behavior, but I guess there can be worse things to be burdened with.

I stopped off at the carwash the other day to get the car cleaned and vacuumed out; with as much driving as I do, the car gets that summer collection of bugs and stuff that really doesn’t look good (again, a bit of an obsession to clean). As I finished vacuuming out the front and moved to the backseat I stopped and noticed the footprints of my beautiful granddaughter from our afternoon adventures Saturday at the park in Bellingham.

I literally stood there with the hose in my hand, the sound of the motor of the commercial vacuum nearly deafening and couldn’t bring myself to clean away the shoeprints. Truthfully, I couldn’t move for another few minutes and just waited for the 50 cent vacuum to stop as I continued to stare at the seat. I now have an immaculately clean car with footprints of a child on the backseat.

This morning, just like yesterday, I put my briefcase and coffee thermos in the back of my car before I go to the office and stare at those same shoeprints and smile; a beautiful reminder that some messes are just too precious to clean away. These were not just ordinary shoe prints. They were left by a princess…

Love,
Dad

7 comments:

Lyndsay said...

Oh my word...that gave me goose bumps! What a sweet grandpa!!!

I remember before my husband and I had kids (we wanted them badly, but it wasn't God's timing yet) my nephews came over and were eating some goodies and they left these cute stick handprints on the TV. I could not bring myself to wash them off. They were literally on there for years. Then one day I wasn't even thinking about it and I sprayed Windex on the TV. I about cried. I was so sad that I was washing it away. Still makes me sad. But now I have 3 kids of my own and they leave sticky fingerprints EVERYWHERE and it's not nearly as monumental as before. :)

Anonymous said...

Your dad is a keeper! You are one lucky girl; as is Olivia

Eva said...

Such a sweet reminder of the joys of our little ones!

Becki said...

that is the sweetest thing! brought tears to my eyes!

Anonymous said...

So so Precious. Thanks for posting. I love reading your blog updates.

Beatriz said...

I LOVE this story! Thanks for sharing Sarah!!

Anonymous said...

I had the tiny little hand prints of my daughter in the back window of my truck for years. They were there for about 5 years and every time I looked in my rearview mirrow I saw them and couldn't help but smile. With all of the daily pressures it was always a reminder of what's important. My little girl is all grown up now and I miss those little baby hand prints.