I recently lost my Dad, Roger Cross. He was one of my best friends and I miss him every moment of every day. I love you Dad.

This is what I said about my Dad....

Over the course of the last few weeks I’ve heard countless stories of how my Dad impacted the lives of hundreds, even thousands of people. And as his daughter, I’m no different.

I was always a Daddy’s girl. I even had little pink hair barrettes to prove it-they said “daddys girl”. And I wore them proudly.

Every single night after dinner I would sit on his lap at the table, or hop into his lap while he was reading in his chair. Even when I was too big to be on his lap-I would still get on his lap :)

I was always in tow at every YFC function. I would scoot up under his arm and he would hold my hand-I was so proud to be Roger’s daughter.

I was equal amounts girly girl and tomboy, and although he never played Barbies with me we did play a lot of catch in the backyard. He also taught me to play basketball--Hours at the park working on a hook shot, and he was my biggest cheerleader at all my games through high school.

Today, both my Mom and Dad are my best friends, but as a kid-as a “passionate” kid who got her Dad’s temperament-I felt like my Dad just got me. He was able to calm me down, make me laugh, encourage me, have fun with me, counsel me, teach me, dream with me.

Maybe that’s why it was so natural for us to start working together. My Dad began working with my Mom on Children’s Music Academy in 2004, but it wasn’t until Russ and I moved back to Denver in 2007 that I got really involved in CMA.

People always warn to never do business with family, but we seemed to do it really well. He had my back and I had his. We were a team, a super visionary to-do-list-creating duo. We loved to have big strategy meetings, which always seemed to result in a huge list of task items for me, but just a couple for him J And we were both driven by a deep passion to grow the business- to make it more successful than it’s ever been. In fact, There’s few things in life I want to see succeed more than Children’s Music Academy and I will do my best to honor all my Dad’s hard work as I move forward in his position at CMA.

I’ve always respected my Dad’s success in his career, but my greatest admiration is for the qualities that made him so special. There are good men in this world, and there are great men in this world. My Dad was one of the greats.

He was wise. Russ and I spent countless hours at their kitchen table hashing out life together.

He had courage-I learned, from him, to fight and never give up.
He had integrity to always do what was right, even when it was hard.
He was funny-never missing an opportunity to share a good joke-and he was the life of the party.

But, if I could emulate anything about my Dad it would be how he treated people-his genuine interest in someone’s life, his warm and welcoming smile, his big bear hugs. He remembered your name. He looked you in the eye. He listened to you. He treated you with respect. He valued relationships above everything else. He made everyone feel important, because he believed they really were. He drew people to Christ simply because he loved them without any ulterior motives. My Dad showed us all how to love well.

So I have a legacy to carry on. WE have a legacy to carry on. “Love one another as I have loved you” the Bible says.
Ok Dad, we will.
I can’t really wrap my head around a whole future without my Dad yet, but I know I’ll see him again, so very soon, but for now, I will GO AND LOVE WELL.

Click the play button below to watch the Celebration Service.