Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a father who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a man and a father. Above all, the Dad of the Month is dedicated to his children. Rich or poor, famous or not, he shines as an example of what fathering is all about.

Our choice for April is Brian G., a father of one who is serving his country aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

"I'm on an aircraft carrier at war, for an unknown length of time, where communication is minimized, and the girls certainly won't be able to come and see me. All in all, I can think of better places to be." So writes U.S. Navy Lt. Brian G.*, in an e-mail aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, steaming through the Mediterranean Sea.

Brian, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a Material Control Officer for Strike Fighter Squadron Fifteen (VFA-15), is fulfilling a duty and serving one of his loves: his country. But it's not his first love. That would be his 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Natalie.

"He makes it his first priority to let Natalie know that she means the world to him, even when he is a world away," says Jennifer, 25, from her family's home in Winter Park, Fla. She and her daughter are taking a break from all the emotion wrapped up in Brian's departure and will return soon to their two-story house in Virginia Beach, Va. "He had a really hard time leaving us, but he knew he had to go," she says.

Shipped Out
On March 16, Brian shipped out for a six-month deployment – his third, but first since becoming a father. He wasn't supposed to leave the country until May, but due to the war with Iraq, he was sent off early. And with the war ongoing and for an indefinite period of time, he may not see his daughter's face in person for quite a while.

"They're supposed to be gone six months," Jennifer says of her husband and his squadron. "But they could be home as late as November." (And even that estimate may be unrealistic, according to Brian's brother-in-law, Mitch W.)

But even while serving half a world away from his family and able to communicate with them practically solely via e-mail, Brian, 31, remains wholly dedicated to Natalie, a happy blonde child having a hard time grasping Daddy's absence.

E-mailing Emotions

Jennifer says Brian has been "persistent" in ensuring his wife sends him daily e-mails about what his daughter is doing, saying and seeing. For example, she recently told Brian she was going to take Natalie to Piglet's Big Movie but then forgot to tell him how the outing went. Soon, Jennifer got an e-mail from Brian: "Please tell me about the Piglet movie," he implored. She wrote back: "She loved the Piglet movie – sat through the entire thing."

Jennifer also sends Brian photos of their daughter and pictures Natalie has doodled for him. But that's about the extent of the feedback Brian gets of his daughter. In early April, Jennifer was anxiously awaiting a telephone call from him, but that kind of communication is a luxury that occurs very infrequently and inconsistently. So the family – Natalie especially – relies on the preparations her daddy made with her in mind before leaving for the war.

Before Deployment
Jennifer, like many at-home moms, needs a break at the end of the day from an active, chatterbox toddler. Brian gave her that break without ever making her feel guilty, she says.

Prior to this deployment, Brian was stationed in Kailua, Oahu, where he worked in an office usually from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Brian would simply come home after each full day at work and go and play with Natalie, also allowing Jennifer evenings out with friends. "He's great about giving me breaks – he never hesitated to bring her outside or play games with her," Jennifer says, adding when they lived in Hawaii, Brian would take Natalie out to the beach, on a run in the jogging stroller or play Natalie's favorite game, one she and her daddy made up and excluded Mommy from.

"There is this one game in particular that Nattie doesn't let Mommy play," Brian explains in an e-mail from his carrier's Ready Room, a place aboard ship where officers gather for meetings, as well as for watching films during down time. This "gathering place" also is equipped with computers he and his colleagues share for administrative work, e-mails and – "on rare occasions," he says – Internet access.

Brian says in their game, "We both put our heads under her blanket, she says (literally) 'Blah Blah Blah, Sah Sah Sah,' then giggles and yanks the blanket off our heads so we can do it again." If Jennifer tries to join in, Natalie pushes her out from under the blanket before getting on with the fun. "I think that Jen's feelings were hurt the first time, but now kicking Mom out of the blanket is almost an integral part of the game!" Brian says.

While he played with Natalie, Jennifer would prepare dinner and then the family would eat their meal together. "I pretty much did the cooking, but he did the bedtime ritual," says Jennifer.

Each night, the pair would sit in a recliner while Brian read books to Natalie. Her favorite – and the one she'd ask Brian to read over and over and over again – is Dr. Seuss' Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?

Virtual Daddy
In an effort to feel he'd done his utmost for Natalie before leaving, Brian made a video on their camcorder of himself dictating their bedtime ritual. Jennifer plays it each night. Though Natalie is too young to understand why Daddy can't reply to the questions and statements she poses to the TV screen, the prerecorded nighttime routine helps soothe Natalie and get her into bed on time.

Jennifer says Natalie will ask the TV, "Daddy, can you hear me?" "It breaks your heart," says Jennifer.

On the video, Brian asks Natalie if she's brushed her teeth and been good to Mommy that day. Then he tells her it's time to kiss Mommy goodnight and go to bed. "He finishes the night off for her, still," she says.

Though Brian seems to think his idea of recording himself doing the bedtime ritual is no big deal – "I know that before long she'll be moving on to new books or even just get bored watching the same videos after a while," he writes – others disagree.

Mitch, 34, his sister's husband, thought his idea was fantastic. "I just thought the video thing he did for Natalie was really cool," he says from his office in Houston, Texas, where he is a senior research analyst with Gulf Investment Management, Inc.

Mitch greatly admires his brother-in-law, both as a dad and as a member of the armed forces and likens Brian to the Pied Piper – wherever he is, children gravitate toward him.

The first time he met Brian was at a family gathering, including about nine kids under the age of 5. While the adults sat around talking to one another, relaxing in chairs and enjoying a drink, Brian was in the middle of the gaggle, being crawled upon, "operated on" with wooden spoons and having a great time. "It was really neat to see," Mitch says. "You see people who are good to kids, but it's just not that way all that often."

"I suppose there are many stories that would make you believe this name (Pied Piper) to be appropriate," Brian writes. "I often find myself surrounded by kids at social and family gatherings."

Jennifer jokes he's the kind of man meant to have 50 kids, and the couple hopes to have at least one more child.

Mitch, a father of two young children himself, wonders at Brian's resolve, knowing how tough this time must be. "I don't know how he does it. I just know it's so hard to be away from your kids when they're so young; you just have to respect the sacrifice that he's making," he says. "It's hard to imagine leaving one day and saying, 'I'll be back in six months.'"

Brian emphasizes his situation is not unusual and that some of his colleagues are worse off: Some have yet to meet their babies, born after deployment.

What keeps Brian and Jennifer going is concentrating on Natalie and her present and future needs. "One day, she will be able to recognize his sacrifice to help protect our country, and she will respect him even more," Jennifer says. "He never fails to let her know every day how much he loves her, so when he is not home she still feels like he is there."

Last names were withheld in this story at the request of Brian's family.

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