'First Look of Life'

I've been looking for a Baby Katie photo for a second-grade project. While perusing old photos, I noticed how many of our Steve-and-Katie photos look like this one:

Katie and Steve, February 2006

He rarely looked at the camera with Katie in his arms. He usually stared at and admired his little girl.

Today, Katie is fully secure in her Daddy's love, even though he's been gone for more than three years. He poured so much love into both Cooper and Katie -- long before he was ill and, of course, while he was living with cancer.

I'm thankful that we have photos. More than that, I'm thankful that both Cooper and Katie have warm memories and constant love today.

In fact, when Katie decided to enter the PTA Reflections contest last fall, she chose to draw a photo of her Daddy holding her for the first time. (The theme this year is "Magic of the Moment.")

Katie's pastel drawing, titled First Look of Life (which recently received an Award of Excellence at school)