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12 Days: My countdown to being a father-in-law

She's my only daughter and I'll be walking her down the aisle in 12 days so she can be one of the Joneses?

When we stop at the altar of the church where's she's being married I will ceremonially give her hand to Adam Jones who will shortly be my son-in-law. It's a life passage that super-wife and I are excited about and it's one that has produced a wave of memories about a little girl who has grown into a full-fledged woman.

These are a gift from God and a foundation for the creation of new memories where our family circle will shortly be enlarged. As an only child raised by a single-mom, I started fatherhood with a little less than minimal experience. But, I learned fast and I loved every second of it.

Taken from the hard drive in my head, I remember and in a random order:

  • When as a newborn and she would wake-up in the middle of the night, I would lay on our big couch with her laying on my stomach and with me reading to her from Time magazine.  Think there was a connection between her reading Time in college and now as a young professional.  Those were special moments.
  • Her first Halloween and where she got all dressed up and I took her in our neighborhood around a couple of blocks.  She held my hand and didn't let go.  Wow!  More special times.
  • When as an older infant, she sat in my chair in the old House Pressroom at the Michigan State Capitol.  One of the news photographers took her picture.  It's a treasure.
  • Her first ear infection when she wouldn't stop crying until we put her in her car seat and took her for a ride.  That's when my wife and I learned the importance of amoxicyllin.
  • When her heartbeat went down after her birth and a pediatric cardiologist raised questions about her making it through the night.  I was consumed with fear and didn't want to leave my wife's hospital room that night.  That's when I really learned about prayer.
  • When she was a toddler sitting in a shopping cart and she was getting impatient and I told her to hang on to her pants and she did literally. 
  • When I sat with her at the Father's Tea at her pre-school and we made sculptures with toothpicks and little marshmallows. 
  • How she lowered her lip and seriously bawled right after she was born.  She had a point of view then, as she does now.
I have more, but you get the idea.  She's special.  She always has been and I'm thrilled to see her begin creating her own family memories.

I'm nostalgic, but in a positive way.  God has blessed me big time with my wife, my daughter and my son.  As my daughter starts her own family, my wife and I will continue to change our perspectives as parents.  Our daughter's ready and we are too.



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