Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Time, Family, Love and Life

Sitting here I find myself pondering about life, family, and love. It seems only yesterday when the boys were new to the world. All those years ago we lived in a different house in a different town. Was it really so long ago when we moved to Western Washington? Was it so really long ago when I held the hands of my children in my own and marveled at how very small and incredibly perfect they were? How could it be only last week that I watched my eldest son as he left the house and walked to the truck in his football gear and thought "Dear God! He is so tall and is too quickly entering into his teen age years."

Moments like that make me acutely aware of the limited and fleeting time parents are gifted with before their children naturally grow away. A day will come all to soon when each boy in his turn will become self sufficient and spend more time with all the other actors in their world than with their mother and I. That day, I pray, won't come for a very long time. Until that time though, I look eagerly to the times each day when I wake them up with a hug and kiss or to those priceless moments when I get home from work and they run to the door to hug me. When your children hug you cling tightly as long as you can and know that for that very brief moment at least all is right and good in your world.

I look forward to reading to them before they go to bed and to the times when we simply play together. Never miss an opportunity to play with your children because one day you will look into their eyes and realize that where once a heart of childhood innocence dwelt will be the pragmatic mind of an adult. This is a place where the magic and wonder of the child's world transforms into feeble illusion; a place where Pan has grown into that corporate lawyer and there really are no such things as fairies.

Dad's - do not seize the day; seize each moment! Drink in each and every moment as if it were a precious gift and never choose to spend time on lesser things. Love your children, love your wife, allow them to love you in return. Show them you love them often and loudly.