Fatherhood brings about joys I never really anticipated prior to having children. Since my upbringing was anything but stable, I was blindsided by the positives of having a healthy parent/child relationship. One such positive is routinely getting to share in the life experiences of my children because they genuinely want to share them with me.
 |
| My view of the back as he read. |
One evening when my son and I were the only ones home, he approached me while I was sitting at my desk. It should be noted that the desk was between us, and as he was very young, I had to sit up a bit straighter to see him properly and ensure he had my full attention. He had an envelope in his hand (clearly left over from some birthday or Christmas card), and from it he withdrew a small piece of paper. There wasn’t any real writing on it, which shouldn't surprise anyone as he was only four and had yet to learn to read and write. Although it had been folded in half many times, I could see it most likely had only one side with anything on it: a near black out of ink on a white backdrop. The color of choice had nearly bled through completely to the point of saturation, but not quite.
He discarded the envelope on my bed at once, and began to unfold my invitation. When the paper was completely unfolded, he read the following words aloud:
“Dear Daddy,
Please come to my birthday party. There will be games and scooters.”
Of course there will.
