In March of 1999 I got the opportunity of a life time. A friend of mine, Jeff Pringle, arranged a co-writing session for me with Larry Boone and Paul Nelson, two of the best writers in country music. These guys have more than 25 #1 hits between the two of them.

As I walked into Sony/Tree Publishing in Nashville, I got a lump in my throat as I looked over the glimmering walls, shinning with gold and platinum records. It was my first time co-writing with anyone. What a way to start. As I entered the office I saw the guys for the first time. What a relief it was to see them in t-shirts and jeans. They made me feel right at home as we began to listen to each others songs.

Larry mentioned that he had a really strong hook but he wasn't quite sure which way to go with it. He said that he was leaning towards writing about the relationship between a young couple. But then he asked me what I wanted to write about.

I told them that my wife was expecting our first child in about a month. We knew we were having a girl, so I wanted to write about the deluge of emotions that were engulfing my body and mind. As soon as I brought up the topic, we started writing.

With the guidance of Larry & Paul, I wrote the rest of the chorus and a good portion of the rest of the song. As we finished a few hours later we all knew that we had just made some magic. We wrote a song that every father can relate to.

I returned home to Florida and played the song over and over. I scheduled studio time for April 14th, knowing that my wife wasn't due for another week. Kandy and I went to the studio and began to record. It took quite a bit longer then we expected. We ended up finishing at around 4:00am on the 15th.

Once we got home around 4:30am I played the song a few times. Just then, Kandy's water broke. Our daughter, Summer Antonette Kapanka, was born at 9:19pm that night.

I took a portable radio/cd player to the hospital with us and shortly after she was born I played her song for her. It was the first song she ever heard. The best part of this story is that my daughter truly did turn out just like her mother and she definitely has my heart.