Thirty two years ago today our oldest son was born.
I thought I was ready to be a parent.
Little did I know…
What it would mean.
What it would ask of me.
What joy and wonder and learning being a parent would be and bring.
There was the miracle of his birth.
There was the driving him around until he fell asleep only to have him wake up the moment we put him down in his crib. There were books and soccer and jumping in the waves at the ocean. And his growing up.
Now looking forward to being a father himself.
Some years ago I bought my wife a cross stitch picture of this saying:
The decision to have a child is momentous.
It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
So, there my heart is.
Outside my body.
Walking around.
Looking at and seeing the world in his own unique way.
And, in his own way, adding to and making the world a better place.
So, with the deepest gratitude and abiding prayers;
And with tears in my eyes…
Happy Birthday.
P.S. And, the reality is I have not one heart, but two.
The other heart is walking his own path towards tomorrow.
But surrounded with the same love and same joy and same deep wonder and gratitude.
But today is not his birthday.
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