Christmas is a time to celebrate, and I’d like to highlight a man who is a true celebrity.
Christmas is a time to celebrate, and I’d like to highlight a man who is a true celebrity.
His name is Frank Somerville. He’s a news anchor for KTVU in Oakland, California. Some of you may have seen him on television and know his personality. But I know that he’s a celebrity, not because of his profession, but because he is a dad. To his African American adopted daughter, he is one patient, terrific dad. If you and I could share a soda with his daughter, I think we’d get an earful of praise for her dad.
Frank recently posted to his Facebook page a photo of himself using the long handle of a comb to remove her cornrow braids. Many of you fathers have probably never braided nor removed your daughter’s hairdos, but let me tell you this is no small feat. Most mothers hate doing it because it takes time, and it can hurt little girls. Kudos to Frank for picking away at her curls to get them out.
The photo of Frank went viral on Facebook. It has been shared more than 4000 times, has more than 20,000 likes, and almost 2400 comments. Wow! The story about Frank’s Facebook photo caught the attention of the national press, too. He and his family were recently featured on CNN (see video below).
It’s a simple photo showing a dad and his daughter going about the ordinary events of their day. Why, we wonder, would people like us be so taken with it?
As a professional listener of girls, I can tell you why. Because every kid—even the kid in each one of us adults—wants attention from our dads. So when we see a father acting so tenderly towards his daughter, it grips us.