Starting at their births, my husband sang to our children every.single.night. He had a special song for each child….

For Josiah: “Baby, baby, baby child…baby child my own…close those big, blue eyes of yours and sleep for just awhile.”

For Anya: “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know, Anya, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

For Lydia: (to the tune of “Oh, what a beautiful morning” from “Oklahoma!”): “Oh, what a beautiful baby. Oh, what a happy girl. I’ve got a wonderful feeling…you’ll be your Daddy’s sweet girl.”

I’ll be honest…sometimes I was irritated. I had songs for the girls, too–and there were times I rushed through them–just wishing they would go to bed already! And Josiah is 12…and his daddy was still singing “Baby Child” to him? And it was a lot of nighttime hoopla and we had busy lives.

BUT…..these songs are the connection we now need that my husband, their father, has left this earth. I sing my songs to them each night…and then I sing Joe’s songs to them. And then I say, “your Mommy AND your Daddy love you” and it is the most special thing.

Joe has taught me…yet another important lesson: it’s the DAILY…it’s the ROUTINE…it’s the HABITS….that show the love and linger on even after. Those songs are such a part of our lives that we have a memory ETCHED in our hearts and minds and we can GRAB it when we need it.

Lydia sang her song about a million times yesterday…to her cat. And she told him how much her daddy loved him even from heaven. What a gift Joe gave to these children.

What routine…habit…can you give your children? Choose well. It matters.