I've always wondered who was behind the costumes.

I was unfortunate enough to find out when I took my son on his first trip to Disney World.

Being a single father isn't easy.

I work as hard as I can to provide for my child, but I need to make enough free time to be there for him.

It's a rough balance that I and many others struggle to maintain.

So rare that I get a chance to spend the entire day with my boy or that I get a break from the stress.

So when an opportunity arises, I take my best to make it a reality.

So when my son David happened to come across the contest that boasted the chance to win a family package to Disney World, I set my sights on making it happen.

His glee, while he filled in the necessary information, was almost enough to make my heart melt on its own.

I wasn't naive. Things like that don't happen to us.

After losing our eye, I learned that you can't count on things to work out for you.

After David submitted his form, I started to scour my work schedule for any openings that I could take and still be there to provide.

Early mornings got earlier and my workload increased tenfold, but it would be all worth it.

That's what I thought anyway.

The contest ran for a month and a half to give people time to send in their entries, and me time to save up for two tickets.

I stayed up on a night that I had free and printed a mock-up letter stating that David had won the contest,

stuffed it inside a white envelope and placed it ever so gently inside our rusty mailbox.

And all I had to do was wait for him to come home.

When I tell you that this boy's whole world lit up, like the 4th of July,

and he opened that letter then.

Man, I hope I never forget his smile.

That he was going to damn near Rip his cheek open, grinning that hard.

...