During the reception, and after the toasts had been made, my father's best friend came up to me and my mother, and had us both sit down - away from the crowd.

"I have something very special to give you Melanie," he said, "And I thought it would be appropriate to give to you after your sister's touching poem."

He handed a beautifully wrapped box, and inside was a Precious Moment's figurine. A figuring picturing a man dancing with a bride. He has a smile on his face, and one small tear falling from his eye. Sticking out of his pocket is a note, with the words, "Dear Daddy" scribbled across the top.

The name of this Precious figurine is "Daddy's Little Girl Forever."

My father had picked out that gift, right before he passed away. And when his friend had gone to see him in the hospital, he had asked him to pick it up and give it to me, just in case he wasn't able to make it.

My mother had known about my father's liking for this tiny figurine, but she did not know that Dad had asked his friend to get it for me.

Needless to say, my father did attend my wedding. And he also danced with me later that night - after everyone had gone home and it was just me and the sky strewn with falling stars and the brightest display of Northern Lights that I have ever seen.