A Little Book, A Big Difference

 My husband's project, I Can't Wait to Meet My Daddy, is doing very well, and we are grateful. It is a gift book for expectant daddies; Roger insisted on publishing it himself. Here is the story of how it all began, originally posted Jan. 20, 2010. Since then, Amazon and Barnes & Noble have regularly placed large orders. Many thanks for your support.

by Kathleen Blease

A man visited his mother two months before his first child was due. He, his mother, and his wife all expected a lovely healthy baby and were preparing with all the necessary and happy chores. The man’s mother wanted her son to know how excited she was for him, and how proud. So she gave him a little book. He didn’t have time to read it, so he thanked her for it and slipped it into his briefcase. Saying his goodbyes, he left his mother and drove home.

Little did he know that that evening his wife would deliver their baby two months too early, a tiny preemie with a tough time ahead of it. Together, the man and wife held each other as they watched the nurses and doctors care for their little one. The busyness of the hospital staff must have been daunting. They sat and watched, feeling helpless and wondering what the future held. And then the husband remembered the little book, the one he slipped into his briefcase. He went to his car and pulled it out and noticed the title, “I Can’t Wait to Meet My Daddy.” The man and his wife sat and read the words of the unborn child who was dreaming about his life with daddy. The man’s mother wrote to the author and told her the comfort they found in those words.

I have the privilege being that author. However, I have to admit right away that I am not responsible for this little book. It’s my husband. And, together, we receive many stories very much like this one. (I never did learn what happened to the little preemie, but I do hope that with the help of today’s miracle medicine, the little one is toddling about and making Grandma and Mama smile, along with Grandpa and Daddy.)

It all had a very simple beginning.

On Christmas Eve fourteen years ago, my husband and I were expecting our first child. All the gifts were wrapped and put under the tree, but I felt that there was still one to be made, something for my husband from his first-born son. I sat down in my tiny office in the attic and began to doodle ideas. The words, “I can’t wait to meet my daddy” came out, and so did a little book that I bound with a handmade cover. On Christmas day, my husband read the words I suspected our tiny son was thinking, eager to meet daddy, and he was deeply touched. For years after that, my husband insisted that it should be published.

When a few publishers told me that they loved the book but it didn’t suit their needs at the time, my husband took it upon himself to learn how to publish books. Now, if it were up to me, knowing something about what goes into publishing a glossy book (I’m from the publishing field), it would have stayed in the cedar chest. But my husband was driven and insistent, and he made a huge investment in time, talent, and treasure to publish I Can’t Wait to Meet My Daddy. Today, that book has helped thousands of wives and mothers tell new dads just how precious they are, and we receive calls and notes from so many mothers, grandmother, and great-grandmothers who purchased the book as a gift. As you can see, the stories they tell us are touching. And it is an honor and blessing to have a tiny part in these people’s lives.



Click on the little book to see it on Amazon. You can also view the interior.

On the back cover, it reads: “To a child, a daddy is a wonderful gift.” And that’s so true! I hope you will join me in thanking my sweetheart for this labor of love that 's touched so many lives! God bless.