In my bedroom sits a statue of Saint Joseph, husband to Mary and by extension, the legal father of Jesus Christ. It might seem ridiculous, but this little trinket has helped me quash the crippling anxiety I once felt as a young father.
I appreciated this article not because of its faith aspects, which I liked, but because it reminded me of how I felt when my first son was born. Two things shocked me within the first half hour of his birth—first, the enormity of it. For the first time, I realized that this new child would be a part of my life for as long as I walked the earth. That was not too shocking as it was something I knew before his birth, even if I had not really thought about it, but soon after, his pediatrician came in, and something happened that did shock me.
The doctor was pulling his limbs every which way in a fashion that I, as an adult, knew would hurt me. I came within a hair of telling the doctor to stop it as I was sure it had to hurt. I can be pretty impervious to someone else's pain, but for some reason, I was outraged over the pain I thought my son, someone I had not met before, might be feeling. I still do not understand how that emotional attachment had already formed, but it was there, and it shocked me. He is 28 now, and the attachment has not declined a bit.
That attachment is something all men should experience, and I do not understand how any man could not move heaven and earth to spend as much time as possible with their children. In retrospect, I suppose it should have been obvious, but I was not expecting it, and it pleases me to this day.
I appreciated this article not because of its faith aspects, which I liked, but because it reminded me of how I felt when my first son was born. Two things shocked me within the first half hour of his birth—first, the enormity of it. For the first time, I realized that this new child would be a part of my life for as long as I walked the earth. That was not too shocking as it was something I knew before his birth, even if I had not really thought about it, but soon after, his pediatrician came in, and something happened that did shock me.
The doctor was pulling his limbs every which way in a fashion that I, as an adult, knew would hurt me. I came within a hair of telling the doctor to stop it as I was sure it had to hurt. I can be pretty impervious to someone else's pain, but for some reason, I was outraged over the pain I thought my son, someone I had not met before, might be feeling. I still do not understand how that emotional attachment had already formed, but it was there, and it shocked me. He is 28 now, and the attachment has not declined a bit.
That attachment is something all men should experience, and I do not understand how any man could not move heaven and earth to spend as much time as possible with their children. In retrospect, I suppose it should have been obvious, but I was not expecting it, and it pleases me to this day.
Oh man, Jeff. I'm right there with you 100%.