Stories For Catherine

Wright Thompson: GREENHILL, Ala. -- Every night, Nicole Conley tells her daughter a bedtime story about Matthew. Catherine's 2 years old now, and she gets scared before she goes to sleep.

Not long ago, after Nicole had told that night's story, Catherine started to cry.

Nicole asked what was the matter.

"I want Daddy!"

"Sweetie, it's time to go to sleep."

"No, Mommy, no! I want more Daddy!"

Now Nicole was crying, too.

"You want me to tell you another story about Daddy?"

Catherine said yes.

Which one should she tell?

Maybe the one about Matthew running into the fire extinguisher on spring break or him freaking out about horseradish sauce on a steak. Should she tell about the skinny high school quarterback or about the muscled Marine?

It could be just a snapshot. Their first Valentine's Day, as she watched a nervous Matthew Conley walk past the big bay windows toward the front door, carrying two orange roses. Nicole loves orange. Or the time Matthew covered their home in rose petals for her birthday, and cooked her chicken parm.

Sometimes she laughs when she tells a story. Sometimes she cries. But night after night, she talks in a voice soft and sweet, telling a little girl about the daddy she never met.