Daddin': The Verb of Being a Dad

Part of my description of Daddin’:  The Verb of Being a Dad is “stories, poetry and journal entries of being son to a father and father to three sons.”   My dad reminded me that having a daughter changes things and perspectives of being a dad, and I have often said that God knew what he was doing by giving me three sons.  I don’t believe that I would have been a bad dad for a  daughter, but I do believe that things worked out as they were supposed to.  But now the score is even, and I can’t stop smiling.  And my heart continues to grow.

On February 13, my middle son (Justin) and his wife (Roxie) welcomed Emmie  to the world, joining her cousins Lillian and Heidi (daughters to Dion and Candice).  I am now granddad to three granddaughters.  That makes six pinky fingers around which I am already wrapped.

Already I see in the two sons with children that they enjoy and will take great pleasure and joy in being a dad.  I see it in how they respond to their children and their wives.  And I smile.  And my heart continues to grow.  The youngest of the brothers (Cameron) already shows the signs, and when the right time appears for marriage and children, he, too, will be a loving member of the daddin’ world.

As we all waited at the hospital through the long labor and then C-section, I could not help but notice the dynamics:  three brothers–one attending to his wife, and the other two in the waiting room; the two granddaughters sleeping and playing (one is three years old and the other three months old); and, that above all things this growing family shows love and support…and joy.  I feel confident that things will remain that way.  And that makes me proud as a dad.

Whether I was playing with Lillian or holding Heidi or holding the newest arrival, Emmie, I knew that life will continue to be about the verbs of daddin’ and granddaddin’, and not just the nouns of the role.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  There is much to do and I am looking forward to each moment.

My oldest son–now a dad with two daughters–posted on his Facebook page that his oldest (now three) said, “Daddy, you make me feel happy and goofy,” or something very close to that.  After he quoted her, he said that his Father’s Day gift was taken care of…five months early.  Father’s Day is every day.

He and his two brothers provided me some sort of Father’s Day every day with things ranging from art (like the  many examples in the Daddin’ book) to adventures to a sweet smile to a hearty laugh.

I have stated many times that being a parent is a “catch and release,” process, but it is also a time machine with time warps and “worm holes” that move us from one universe to another, from one time frame to another.

Almost any time that I interact with my sons–now aged 32, 28 and 21–I have the opportunity to feel happy and goofy, too.  Whether it is their stories (of joys and sorrows), their humor or their willingness to share, I find myself smiling, feeling younger and sometimes goofy.  Sometimes I open my book to simply be reminded of all the times from “back then,” and then to smile because the fun continues.

No matter what life brings, it seems that my sons help me feel happy and goofy.  We can do it for our kids, and they can do it for us.