Dad surprises daughter at school, asks to dance

Palm Coast Observer
Neighbors

(Warning: Get some tissues!) When Lena Oglesby, a second grader at Belle Terre Elementary, and her mother attended the school’s family dance last year, she was saddened by the fact that all her friends’ dads were there dancing with their daughters, but her dad couldn’t be there.

“Her mom kept telling me how sad she was, and I knew I couldn’t allow that to happen again,” said Everett Oglesby, Lena’s dad.

Everett Oglesby has been living in South America, where he has started a barbeque business, one of the firsts in his city. Having to spend so much of his time and money on the business, Oglesby hasn’t been able to come back to the states as frequently as he had been in the past to take Lena to school and eat with her at lunch, the way he used to.

He last visited her back in April, and she didn’t have any idea that she would be seeing him any time soon.

When Dr. T.C. Culver, Belle Terre Elementary’s principal, asked Lena to join him on the stage Friday, Feb. 27, in the lunch room, she had no idea what the reason was. He even asked her if she was going to the dance later that night, and she sadly shook her head “No.”

After saying a few more words, Everett Oglesby came from behind the curtains to surprise his daughter, and once Lena recognized him, she locked herself in his arms, began to fill his shirt with her tears and refused to let him go as he twirled her around. Her daddy was there to take her to the daddy-daughter dance.

After minutes had gone by, Lena allowed her dad to formally invite her to the dance.

“Lena, someday when you’re older, a boy is going to ask you to go to a dance,” said Everett Oglesby, down on one knee. “But, if he doesn’t ask you like I did, then don’t go.”

After Lena accepted her dad’s invite, all the kids and teachers applauded the two, while many of the teachers and faculty wiped away tears.

“I’ve had hesitations about these dances in the past, because I kept hearing from teachers about little girls who were upset that they didn’t have a dad to bring them to the dance,” said Kristin Austin, the dance organizer. “I had ended the registration for the dance, but then I got a call from Everett, crying, telling me how he was in South America and got an emergency passport to make it to be with his daughter. I had to reopen the registration and let him on the list.

“It hurts to see little girls’ faces that aren’t able to go to the dance, but knowing that this little girl will never forget that moment that her dad made her feel like a million bucks makes me feel like it’s worth it,” she added. “Right now, I just want to go hug my kids and cry.”

“Her mom always tells me that I’m Lena’s first boyfriend, and I take that responsibility seriously,” Everett Oglesby said. To be able to do this for her means a lot more than any expensive plane ticket or emergency passport. I just created a memory for her that she will never forget.”