During every home football game, Kevin Houston joins his daughter, Eva, and her Omaha, Nebraska, high school marching band on the field for the halftime show. The 14-year-old freshman has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Eva’s father pushes her chair during each practice and performance, allowing her to move in formation with the rest of her bandmates, Today.com reported.
"You drop your kids off at school and you don't get to experience their day with them,” Houston told the news outlet. “So I'm very grateful to be part of her life."
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Omaha World-Herald reported
After attending a band camp over the summer, Eva came to Westside High School in the fall with hopes of joining the music group, but knew she needed an aide to help her with the marching. So the teen turned to her father, a former musician who once played for a national drum and bugle corps, Omaha World-Herald reported. Houston had the rhythm and experience to make himself and Eva the perfect team.
“I think we have it easier,” Eva told the news outlet, “because he only has to memorize the drill, and [I memorize] the music.”
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Omaha World-Herald
Four days a week, Houston leaves his job to attend band practices with Eva. At football games, he sits in the stand, but then joins Eva on the field during halftime. The extra time spent together has been extra special for both the father and daughter.
"At first I was doing it for Eva and didn't realize how much I'd enjoy it as well," he told Today.com. "I've always been in bands throughout high school and college, so it brings back a lot of memories for me."
Also on HuffPost:
Great Quotes About Fatherhood
(01 of21)
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“I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.” - Umberto Eco
(02 of21)
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"Above all, children need our unconditional love, whether they succeed or make mistakes; when life is easy and when life is tough." -President Obama
(03 of21)
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“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” – Mark Twain
(04 of21)
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“The nature of impending fatherhood is that you are doing something that you’re unqualified to do, and then you become qualified while doing it.” – John Green
(05 of21)
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"You fathers will understand. You have a little girl. She looks up to you. You're her oracle. You're her hero." -Stanley T. Banks, Father of the Bride
(06 of21)
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"Do I want to be a hero to my son? No. I would like to be a very real human being. That's hard enough." -Robert Downey Jr.
(07 of21)
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“It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.” — Anne Sexton
(08 of21)
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"I thought I would be more inspired to have all these new feelings to talk about, but I really just want to hang out with my daughter." Jay-Z
(09 of21)
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“We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.” - Henry Ward Beecher
(10 of21)
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“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” - Charles Wadsworth
(11 of21)
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"Having a staring contest with a newborn is one of the weirdest things you will ever do. And it is highly recommended." -Ross McCammon
(12 of21)
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“I think once I fail enough as a dad, I'll be looking for help wherever I can get it. I just need enough time to screw things up and then I'll start looking to TV dads for advice.” - Ty Burrell
(13 of21)
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"The reward of child rearing is spending the rest of your life proudly knowing this person you helped guide. Let him be himself." -Mike Sager
(14 of21)
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"I want my son to wear a helmet 24 hours a day." - Will Arnett
(15 of21)
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"This is my most important role. If I fail at this, I fail at everything." -Mark Wahlberg
(16 of21)
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"It is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping."- John Sinor
(17 of21)
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“I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.” – Harry S. Truman
(18 of21)
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"It is much easier to become a father than to be one." -Kent Nerburn, Letters to My Son: Reflections on Becoming a Man
(19 of21)
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"Lately all my friends are worried that they're turning into their fathers. I'm worried that I'm not." -Dan Zevin
(20 of21)
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"Few sons are like their fathers - many are worse, few better." -Homer, The Odyssey
(21 of21)
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"It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived. "-Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird