Goodnight Moon. Where the Wild Things Are. Runaway Bunny. These are just a few of the classic stories that we tell our kids at bedtime. We look forward to dedicating a portion of every evening to reading a bedtime story to cap off the day. Probably by the time our kids are too old for bedtime stories, we may have memorized a few of them. While these moments are a delight to many, it is a terrifying time for one dad. Meet Lance Lambert, a paratrooper who served two tours of duty in Iraq supporting the 10th Special Forces Group. Nothing scares him more than reading bedtime stories to his 6-year-old daughter, Avery, due to his stutter.
In this Share Saturday video, Lance records himself reading Aladdin for his daughter’s bedtime story. He struggles through each sentence but his daughter is there to help out with the harder words. By the end of the story, Avery is fast asleep in her bed. So why did he post this video online? He wanted to share how difficult simple tasks can be when you have a stutter. Even though it was difficult for Lance to read the entire story, his devotion and love for his daughter are unquestionable.
So what does his daughter think about her father’s stutter? “My daughter doesn’t care at all. It’s me who cares. I’ve said to her, ‘I’m sorry you have a dad who stutters,’ and she said, ‘I don’t care, Dad. It’s fine,’ and I started crying — and I don’t cry!” Lance recalls.
Lance hopes the video of him reading to his daughter will help provide inspiration for others like himself.
