Being A Dad

Remember life before your driver's license? I mean, you know there was a time when you couldn't drive, and you may even be able to recall moments when you had to sit in the backseat or shotgun, which if you hadn't called, fisticuffs were likely between you and your siblings.
But odds are, you don't remember what it was like. Those feelings of those times, gone from the memory storage and retrieval bank, fog on a California summer morning, dissipated by midday.

So it is to be a parent. Well, an actively involved one, that is. I remember that there was a time when I didn't have my daughter, but good Lord, I can't remember what it was like. She's so much a part of my every day's decisions, whether in advance and smartly, or in retrospect and regretfully, she's always there.

What's more is that this love expands. Mothers probably don't experience it as strongly. After all, their love is the penultimate expression from Moment 1. And I doubt fathers who get to spend every day with their children get to feel this blossoming deep within the chest as their children grow.

Kennedi every day becomes an amazing person exponentially. As though somehow she can just double in her overwhelming awesomeness just by going to sleep and waking up the next day. There is no way to even begin to describe her, either. People ask and the only words to escape my mouth are, "She's just such a great person. I'm excited to see what she does in her life."

In the past 3 months, she's gone to Europe with the Young Ambassadors with a group of 40 kids and 4 adult leaders (none of which were named "Mom" or "Dad") and every time I talked to her over there, she was giggling with her roommates. Nothing, and I mean nothing in this world puts a more complete sense of peace in a man's being than hearing his child laugh uncontrollably with other kids her age.

When she returned, her leaders told her mom and I that they were so impressed with her selflessness, maturity, and good natured spirit. And we were humbled that our little girl was someone much greater than ourselves.

One of my best friends recently revealed that he and his wife are pregnant. I almost teared up as I hugged him and told him, "Now, your life really starts."

Being a Dad is about the best damn thing a guy can be when he does it right.