The Magical Partnership

Thoughts on fatherhood

Being a Dad isn’t something I spend much time thinking about, but I often find myself marveling at how much I enjoy it. Frequently, I catch a simple moment that stands out and try hard to embed it in my memory. An evening playing catch in the yard with my son, the light just right, my daughter goofing around upside down in the magnolia tree. Sometimes on a drive home from school, I hear little voices in the backseat, which occasionally turn into a song or a game they are playing together with me becoming a grateful spectator. Being able to hang out with your son and his grandpa, just watching the game and being together, or going to play golf together as a family with the good light of a Sunday afternoon. That’s the good stuff.

I cried the first time I held my daughter and I so clearly remember the feeling it gave me. Becoming a Dad in that moment felt like the most important dimension of my life. It might have been vivid in that first moment, but the low-grade joy of being a parent is a beautiful aspect of my life that I didn’t anticipate.