When you are young and in love, Disney fairytales can seem like documentaries. The fact of the matter is, sometimes fairytales get fractured. Sometimes life knocks you straight on your back. But the people who don’t let life defeat them are the ones who ultimately live happily ever after.
Cameron and Riley Dillard’s not-so-perfect fairytale began their senior year of high school in their home state of Michigan, where they were introduced by a mutual friend at a family get together. The two hit it off immediately, and as it turned out they had more in common than they thought when they realized they were both headed to the University of Florida on athletic scholarships, Cameron for football and Riley for lacrosse.
After dating just four short months, the two decided to get married in spur of the moment fashion and eloped. “So we’re in this dorm watching The Proposal and he was like ‘hey you wanna get married?’ and I was like ‘well yeah, sure’,” said Riley. Just two weeks later on Florida’s bye week in 2013, Cameron and Riley were married. “I don’t know if we thought it through, I don’t remember a thought process behind it,” she said.
Unlike most college kids, the Dillard’s knew they wanted to start a family as soon as possible after they got married. “We always talked about wanting kids and we were like, we might as well start young,” said Cameron.
As a college student, I cannot imagine already being married, much less learning to raise a child. I’m still learning how to do this thing they call adulting. If I’m being honest, I’ve been living on my own for two years now and every time I lose something (which is a lot) I call my mom and she can almost always tell me right where it is without even being here. It’s like she’s some kind of wizard. I’m just not parent material yet. So as I talked to Cameron and Riley, it baffled me that they knew from the very beginning that parenthood is what they wanted.
Before long, the newly married couple was pregnant. That’s when life happened and their seemingly perfect fairytale came to a halt. “We were pregnant twice before, and both were miscarriages,” said Riley.
“It was really upsetting, disappointing, I mean that was your kid,” Cameron said.
Riley said if there is any word of advice she would give to someone else who might be going through the same situation is to know it is okay to hurt, even when other people might not understand the pain. “I think a lot of times people are like ‘oh it happens’, nobody says to a person that lost somebody in a car accident ‘oh that happens’,” said Riley. “I mean it happens, but that doesn’t make it any less painful.”
The Dillard’s used the devastating events to help them grow as a family. At such a young age, it’s hard to understand why or how these things happen, but Cameron and Riley knew they still had a purpose and would not give up on their dreams. “It’s something that made us grow closer together,” he said. “We just grew from that and learned, and that led us to this adoption.”
Adopting was always a part of their plan at some point, so after several people reached out to them on Facebook about doing a private adoption, the Dillard’s knew that is what they were meant to do. “We just felt like it was God’s purpose for us and our family,” Cameron said of adopting.
The Dillard’s spent countless hours putting in time towards their adoption and going to adoption classes during the 2015 football season. Riley said Cameron would rush home after football practice to be sure he made it in time for class with her.
After all the time and consideration the Dillard’s had put into adopting, there was still one obstacle to get through. There was still a chance the birth mother could change her mind. Cameron and Riley had paid for all of her expenses and done everything they could possibly do to make sure their baby would be healthy, but at the end of the day there was always a possibility that the entire thing could fall through and lead to another heartbreak.
Riley’s mother was against the adoption for the very reason that she did not want to see her daughter and son-in-law endure the pain of losing a child again. Whether she was behind them or not, the Dillard’s knew giving a child a better life through adoption is what they were meant to do.
Finally, after anticipating the day for their baby to come for so long, it was time. Riley was present for the birth, while Cameron was back in Gainesville taking classes and working out with the football team.
When she arrived at the hospital, she was put in scrubs and pushed aside into a holding room that she said was basically a bathroom in a hallway. She became panicked after waiting and waiting for someone to come get her for the birth, and thought they forgot about her. She was at the point of tears when a nurse finally came to get her.
Emmitt Christopher Dillard was born on May 13, 2016. Ironically, on a Friday the 13th, just like the Dillard’s wedding date. Riley was holding him in her arms almost immediately and she said it felt like she was in a dream.
She FaceTimed Cameron, who was in the locker room fresh out of a workout, when Emmitt was born. He became so overcome with emotion that he couldn’t hold back a few tears of joy in a moment he had been waiting on for what felt like an eternity. He sprinted around the locker room showing all of his teammates his new pride and joy, but none of them believed him. They had chosen not to tell anyone until they knew everything was going to go through.
For 48 hours, Cameron, Riley, and her mom anxiously waited to see if the birth mother would go through will the plan. They all took a sigh of relief when she made the adoption one step closer to being official by signing over. Once she signed over, there was virtually no going back. They finally knew everything was going to work out.
Emmitt and Riley had to stay for a couple of weeks as they waited for the adoption to be processed. Meanwhile, Cameron was still back in Gainesville waiting for the moment he could see his son in more than just a picture or FaceTime. Two weeks later when he finally held Emmitt in his arms for the first time, it was a surreal moment. “It changes you as a person,” he said. “It’s a love that is deeper than anything else you’ve ever felt. You know you’ll do anything for him.”
Emmitt was not even seven pounds yet when he was brought home. Cameron is not a small guy by any stretch of imagination, standing at 6-4, 308-pounds, so for him it was crazy at first handling such a small baby. “We got home and Cam’s like ‘he’s like literally the size of a football’,” said Riley. Luckily he and the rest of the football players didn’t get any crazy ideas from that.
Riley said there have been days when she comes home and Cameron is sitting in a chair with Emmitt lying on his chest and they are both sound asleep. “Emmitt just adores Cam,” she said. “They are so cute together.”
One of the most amazing things to me is that on top of being a young married couple learning to raise a child, the Dillard’s still find a way to manage with Cameron’s insane football schedule.
In the summer, Cameron’s average day consisted of being away from home from 6:00 in the morning to 7:00 at night. Every day he would wake up for early morning workouts, then head to his summer job at Lowe’s, go back for afternoon workouts and tutoring, then finally get to head home to be with his new family.
Things will be even more hectic for the Gators’ starting center this fall as he will have to balance playing football and being a father for the first time, but he is ready to take on the challenge. “Very time oriented, where I need to be, when I need to get things done,” he said of his time management plan. “Make sure that I plan ahead.”
Riley said the time management has been rough since fall camp started, because Cameron has to leave before Emmitt wakes up in the mornings and doesn’t get home until after he has gone to sleep. Even with it being all football all the time right now, Riley still pushes Cameron to chase his dreams. It’s definitely not easy, but they both love football and she said she thinks it will bring them together even more in the fall. “It’ll probably make our lives easier one day,” said Riley.
Teammates have taken notice of changes in Cameron’s demeanor since he became a father. Fellow offensive lineman, Tyler Jordan (a.k.a. Uncle Tyler) has been the closest to Cameron throughout his journey of starting a family. “He’s become more of a leader,” Jordan said. “That mirrors the way he’s been handling things in the locker room and the way he’s taken more responsibility upon himself to work harder and try to get everybody else to work harder.”
He talked about how Emmitt is bringing so much joy to everyone. “He’s funny,” said Jordan. “He likes to be held, like if you put him down he’ll start crying and you’ve got to pick him up again.” Cameron added on by saying, “He’s always smiling, always wanting to have a good time.”
Emmitt is just over four months old now and has already made his debut in The Swamp. Cameron is so excited that his son gets to watch him play. “He’s already got all of his Gator gear,” said Cameron. Some of his gear includes a jersey, a Gators onesie, and a shirt that says “My Daddy’s #54”.
It is appropriate he is named after one of the greatest Gator’s in history, Emmitt Smith. “So if we can get a picture with Emmitt Smith, you know that would be really cool,” said Riley. Emmitt Smith, if you’re reading this, you have a chance to meet one of the cutest babies in the world and make this young family very happy. That sounds like a pretty good deal. Call me.
According to Riley, in time they want to build a huge family with lots of children. They are not discouraged from continuing to try to get pregnant on their own. “We definitely think we’ll be able to,” said Riley. Doctors are certain Cameron and Riley will be able to have a healthy pregnancy when they are ready, but now that Emmitt is here, the Dillard’s are perfectly content with being a one-child family until Cameron finishes his college football career.
There are some special people in this world who are called to make a change in the lives of others, and that is exactly what the Dillard’s are doing. While other college students (myself included) are still trying to find their car keys, Cameron and Riley know exactly what their life purpose is, and his name is Emmitt. “It was like he was always supposed to be ours,” she said.
In the short time I spent with the Dillard’s, I was truly inspired by the love they have for each other and for their son. It’s kind of crazy to have a wall of a human being like Cameron bring you to tears just with his words about the pure bliss he has found in being a father.
While Cameron and Riley have not lived the typical Disney documentary fairytale (stay tuned for Cameron to break out in song in The Swamp sometime this season), they are living the happily ever after that myself and most others my age hope to one day find.