I have had a longer run that most. Many of my friends are now empty-nesters. Our kids were staggered more and we had them later. So I have always looked over the fence and wondered what it was like to have your children leave. Now we are on the long side of parenthood with a daughter off to college in the fall and my son getting an apartment soon. We still have one daughter just beginning high school but it is there like a spot in the sun.
You see the young fathers now. They play ball with their son or are in a store with their daughter. You remember that. You remember as if it was yesterday the million moments that make up fatherhood. Scouts, baseball, football...throwing a ball in the backyard. And then just going to get some chips and soda on a hot summer day. I remember thinking we have years and years of this when my son was just six. I loved that thought because I had discovered how much fun fatherhood could be.
And now, now it is all fading. You don't want to think that way but your job of father is winding down. You know it. You see that end date and more you see the diminishing role. And you mourn. It was the best job you ever had and while it will continue it will not be those bright years where you were snuggled into family life with no thoughts it would ever end...or that you would ever say, what fun fatherhood was.
www.williamhazelgrove.com
You see the young fathers now. They play ball with their son or are in a store with their daughter. You remember that. You remember as if it was yesterday the million moments that make up fatherhood. Scouts, baseball, football...throwing a ball in the backyard. And then just going to get some chips and soda on a hot summer day. I remember thinking we have years and years of this when my son was just six. I loved that thought because I had discovered how much fun fatherhood could be.
And now, now it is all fading. You don't want to think that way but your job of father is winding down. You know it. You see that end date and more you see the diminishing role. And you mourn. It was the best job you ever had and while it will continue it will not be those bright years where you were snuggled into family life with no thoughts it would ever end...or that you would ever say, what fun fatherhood was.
www.williamhazelgrove.com
