For her first daddy-daughter dance, 5-year-old Cayleigh Hinton had the dress, the hair clips and the shoes.
Except she was missing one thing, her father.
A soldier, Terrence Hinton had been killed in a freak military training accident last year. A truck he was driving lost control and skidded into a ditch.
Luckily, his comrade, Sgt. Joseph Bierbrodt, was ready to step up to the plate and offer himself as a date.
Cayleigh is a “Daddy’s little girl," according to her mother, Jillian. She said that Terrence would have been thrilled to see Cayleigh all dressed up.
“He loved doing school activities with Cayleigh. He would have loved to take her to a father-daughter dance,” she said. “We wish he could be here today, but we know that he is looking down on us and loves us.”
Despite missing her father, Cayleigh practised dancing for the occasion.
Bierbrodt arrived in limousine and formally asked Cayleigh to the dance. Ever the gentlemanly date he gifted her with a six-foot stuffed dog in an army jacket.
“When I received the request to do this, it touched me,” he said. “This is something I felt needed to be done. Military is family to me and as a family we need to be there for each other.”
A father of four himself, Bierbrodt was touched when he heard about Cayleigh. Having been to these dances with his own daughters, he knew how much an escort would mean to the little girl.
“Cayleigh looks absolutely beautiful tonight and she is priceless,” he added.
“When you're five years old everything happens in moments,” continued Jillian. “I have seen her get excited over and over again tonight and that’s what make me so happy. I’m so thankful for all of this.”
What a dashing couple!
