From the first day she was in kindergarten, Emma Callaghan has gotten a note of encouragement from her father.
The notes are always in her lunch and written on a napkin.
Now that Garth Callaghan has terminal cancer, he’s working ahead to make sure his inspiration continues all the way through her high school graduation.
Garth has been writing notes, hundreds of notes, to leave after he’s gone.
Emma is 13 now and Garth figures he’ll need about 826 to finish the job.
So far he has 740. That's how Garth became the Napkin Dad.
He told the Richmond Times-Dispatch "at the end of the day, these notes might be the only thing my daughter has left of me."
Some of the past offerings have been;
* "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. —B. Franklin"
* "Do or do not. There is no try. —Yoda"
* Dear Emma, Everything in moderation. Except Awesome. You can never have too much Awesome. Love, Dad"
And maybe the most touching of all.
"Dear Emma, Sometimes when I need a miracle, I look into your eyes and realize I've already created one. Love, Dad."
Garth tries not to fret about much but there is one thing that concerns him. "My daughter's a teenager now," he began. "So at some point, the notes might cease to be cool," but for her and I, this is a special thing that we share."
See the webpage with the notes here.
Or check the Facebook and Twitter feeds for other special moments.
About the Author
