Being Father at Forty (Continued)

The Beginning

This began forty or so years ago in the late 1970\’s.  We didn\’t have things that shimmied and shook, and very few things we owned played music.  There wasn\’t any contraptions that you could Bluetooth for control, no fancy lights, and certainly nothing that would talk back to us.  That came later. We used a swing that had two hairpin style rods on either side, and a small crank on the top to create the motion.  We could gently swing until there was no more juice, and then we would patiently wait for mother or father to come crank us up again.  I say patiently because it seems to sound better than trying to turn a crank for a screaming child. It was good times, I have 2 younger siblings so I know. Things were just simple then, so going forward will be a huge adjustment period.

Our Christmas lists would consist of tearing out pages of the old Sears catalog and giving them to my parents as a list of the items that we wished for.  There was no Amazon 2 day delivery, no 3-5 business days, and no apps to help us pick the gifts.  We played at the school until the streetlights came on, went home for dinner, and into bed we went.  This was real, and so much different.  The beginning of all of this started then, and moves to the present.  Everything is changed, technology is advancing, and we have a daughter that will be here in a few short months. So we move on.  This will be fatherhood at forty.

The Middle

The middle consists of the high school years, then the college years, and then deciding if we would ride up and down main street or go to the river and have a bonfire.  We would listen to our Discman, watch VHS tapes in a VCR, and call in a pizza from a land line to wait until it showed up at the door.  Many of you that are in my age range will know exactly what I am talking about, and how much has changed in the last 40 years.

Moving forward to almost 3 years of marriage, and knowing that in 2 short months we will have a little girl to welcome into the world.  There will be many new projects, re-organizing, rearranging, and clearing out clutter.  Not that we are hoarders or anything, but we are now somewhat forced to decide what we need to keep and what we don\’t.

The End

There really is no end to a great story, and I\’m not sure that this will have one. We can\’t begin to thank those of you that have cheered us along the way. This will be a huge adjustment, and with a little help we will move ahead,  with mercy and grace. I will say that we are excited to put together a Christmas card this year, as we finally have some news to share.  You can all look forward to that!  This is great. Life is great. So until we meet again you can follow along with us on this journey, and be an part of our story.