I spy joy at March for Babies

I work for March of Dimes in Portland, Oregon. The non-profit health organization that works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Yesterday was our biggest fundraiser of the year, March for Babies.

After walking the route with 5,000 others whose lives have somehow been touched by our mission, many people will stay, have a hot dog and an ice cream bar, and enjoy the upbeat music by 5 Guys Named Moe.

It was during this time that I saw special t-shirts celebrating premature babies born as small as one pound who overcame the challenges of being born too soon and were out there in strollers or walking beside their proud parents. I also saw shirts created with great love in memory of a baby who didn’t make it, worn by people who still celebrate those little lost souls.

As the music lightened the steps and hearts of the crowd, there was dancing. I became mesmerized by one particular pair — a father and his young daughter. Held in his arms, this beautiful little girl was twirled and waltzed and gazed at with a love and tenderness one doesn’t see just everyday. I fell in love. I fell in love with this little smiling girl, comfortable and happy in her daddy’s arms. And I fell in love with her doting father, so obviously blissful to be dancing with his daughter in a parking lot on a Saturday morning as though there were no place he’d rather be. I fell in love with the whole of it, and I wasn’t the only one.

After the last note he dipped his small partner and clapping came from the people around him. Turns out Rob Moneyhan (daddy) and his lovely wife were there because they have a second child, Chase, who is still in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and has been for months since he was born way too soon.

The Moneyhans know how precious every single moment is. Which makes enjoying a dance in a parking lot all the more splendid.