To dance with my father

Navy officer returns from Iraq to escort daughter to sock hop

It was Coral Rebana's first big dance.

Coral, 10, had been looking forward to the St. Matthew's Daddy-Daughter Dance for the past couple of weeks. The theme was the 1950s, and Coral's mother, Missy Colley, had found her daughter a black poodle skirt on eBay. She had a shirt to match and a new pair of shoes.

But Coral's excitement was tainted by wistful longing. While her friends looked forward to dancing with their fathers, Coral knew her dad wouldn't be there. Chris Rebana, a corpsman in the U.S. Navy, was halfway around the world, a few months into a 13-month tour in Iraq.

Coral would go to the dance anyway - she probably could dance with Deacon Fred Topp - but it wouldn't be the same as going with her father.

"Little girls, they just want their dad sometimes," Colley said. "There's things I can't do for her. This is one."

Then, the day before the dance, Colley told her daughter a secret.

Rebana was on his way to Kalispell and would be there in plenty of time for the dance.

"She was planning on it to be a surprise, but my aunt talked her into" telling the secret, Coral said. "I got really excited."

Coral and Colley met Rebana at the airport late Thursday night. Father and daughter said it was a happy reunion.

"Every time I see her, she gets excited," Rebana said.

Rebana said he sees his daughter once or twice a year. This is his third tour in Iraq.

He left in January, and in February had to choose when to take leave. He chose the end of April, hoping to be in Kalispell for his daughter's 11th birthday, which is Wednesday.

The chance to attend Coral's first dance was a happy coincidence, Rebana said.

"I'm pretty glad that I did choose April," he said. "I get to go to her first dance and her birthday."

He left Iraq April 17 and reached the United States four days later. After a day in North Carolina, Rebana flew to the Flathead Valley.

He and Coral spent the day together Friday. They rode bikes until it started to snow, Coral said, and then got ready for the dance.

Rebana was ready to go after donning a black shirt and jeans. Coral was the quintessential '50s girl, with her poodle skirt, a pair of dangly electric guitar earrings and a scarf tied around her ponytail.

Before the dance started, Coral admitted there was one small hitch in the evening's plans.

"Me and him can't dance," she said.

Luckily, local dance teacher Carol Jakes was on hand to teach the daddy-daughter couples a few simple steps. Rebana and Coral laughed as they followed her lead and learned the bus stop and a basic swing.

It was just what Coral had been hoping and praying for.

"I was excited about my dad being here and dancing with him, being it's my first dance," she said.

Rebana leaves the Flathead on Thursday to start the long journey back to Iraq. Until then, he and Coral will spend every free moment together.

"This week, it's all about my dad," she said.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com