“This is something that's special between her and me,” said Wade. “This is us."

Wade is a single dad. Since he and Tiffany's mom split up, he sees his daughter every day during the week. Like many single parents, he didn't want to end up in this situation but he takes his role as dad seriously.

“That's the most important legacy that you can have in your entire life is who your child becomes,” he said.

After his wife left more than 12 years ago, he turned to a local fathering organization for help. 

"One of the things that dads consistently tell us when they come through our program is that they want to do a better job, learning how to communicate, how to discipline, and how to deal with conflict,” said Ken Sanders, the program manager at the Center on Fathering in the Springs.

Sanders says over the past several years, more and more dads have taken the lead role in raising their children.

“The courts, society, the community at large was beginning to understand that fathers are as capable of raising their children as mothers are,” he said.

Sanders says it can be easy for dads to give up, but they shouldn't.  Wade didn't.

“There's been hard times but I don't focus on those,” said Wade “I focus on the positives.”

Tiffany is the one stuck in the middle and says she has fun with both parents.

Wade misses her when she's not around. He switched jobs and took a pay cut so he could have the same schedule as her. He helps with homework -- and even plans special outings

“She looks so forward to it and so do I,” he said.

Every year, they dress up for an annual father-daughter dance.

“I wore her out this past year,” he said.  

“It’s just fun to dance with my dad and have fun,” said Tiffany.