I'm not quite sure what year it was …..
but there came a certain point when I dreaded my birthday coming. I
use it as a self-assessment and kind of take inventory as to where I
was in life and compare to my peers or other family members or
friends my age. Say for instance... who owns a house at a certain
age or who's married and how many kids... things like that. As every
birthday approached, I found myself more and more depressed.
 |
| Are you ever too "old" for Chuck E Cheese's? |
Then something happened that changed
everything... I had two wonderful beings come into my life... that
being my sons. They gave me a whole new outlook and perspective on
things.. No longer was I so quick to look at what I didn't have or
had not accomplished, but I focused a little more on what I had and
what I had accomplished.
This past weekend (Feb. 4) I celebrated
another b-day. This was my 4th birthday with my boys ….
There is the joy of celebrating and then there is the joy of being
celebrated. Now that WiMi isapproaching 4, they have some what of
an idea about birthdays and what they mean. To them at least it
means cake and ice-cream. They got some help from their mother , but
they picked out an awesome cake and they also “took” me to Chuck
E Cheeses' as well. Of course it was actually me taking them as for
the past few years I've found some fun way we could all enjoy my
birthday. That's how I look at it now... I see it as a new
beginning... a blessing.... an opportunity to rise up to the
challenges of a “new” year and try to accomplish more than the
year before.
Some dads out there will tell you what
a thankless job being a father can be.... We only get two days a
year if we're lucky that we are revered and celebrated ...that's our
birthday and Father's day. It is a great feeling and I don't feel bad
saying so. So my advice to dad's out there is take advantage of it.
Don't look at the negatives of getting older, grayer, slower... but
becoming wiser as a parent... gaining another year of knowledge and
understanding, another year of such a rewarding experience.
In closing... I'm taking this
opportunity to thank you WiMi for the best birthday yet... I often
wonder how you are going to do it... but each year you out do
yourselves and top the year before. I'm already looking forward to
the next birthday. Until then …. we will just enjoy and savor
this one. Thank you and thank you for the greatest gift... You!
Thanks for reading
FatherEd
