31 Minutes
The presents on the table are torture.
"When can I open them?"
"On your birthday."
"When's my birthday going to be here?"
"When you go to sleep."
Approaching midnight, the cartoon has sung him a lullaby, diffusing the anxiety of anticipation and calming him into sleep.
In 31 minutes, 5 conquers 4. In 31 minutes, a father's heart sinks, and he wants nothing more than to kiss the cheek of a sleeping boy who will suddenly grow into a man.
It is a nightly ritual, a desperate -- and ultimately futile -- act to freeze an age of innocence.
Less than a second it lasts, a mere moment that time erodes.
The minutes grind, relentlessly -- 1:12 ... 1:13 ... 1:14.
The moments within seconds chip away like a determined river with an endless source: A boulder becomes a stone; a stone becomes a pebble; a pebble blends into the great, complicated tapestry.
Time both gives and takes: Minutes become months; months become years; years become a lifetime.
Spider-Man pajamas become business suits.
Knowledge is gained and innocence is lost.
Slow down. You'll realize your Daddy is not a hero.
Stop growing, son, because he always wants to be one in your eyes.
6 comments:
The absolute beauty of that young man-child: you'll always be his hero. He will be proud to call you father whether he is 5 or 55. He may deny it, fight it, and ignore it, but you will always be big in his eyes.
You can count on that.
You and your wife are greatly blessed, and may God continue to bless you richly.
thanks, aimee. that's an incredibly nice thing to say.
when he's 15, i'll tell him to talk to you; when he's 55 ... whew boy ... i hope i'm alive!
thanks again. i do love both of my boys so ...
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Though i don't have kids, I've told my mother that when my children become teenagers, i'm mailing them to her. :)
So i guess i'm one to talk...
i must say, i learned this weekend that 5 year old birthday parties are FUN!
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Loved it Eric! Got me a little sappy inside. I thought that this captured the moment...
you know a little about that, cari, being a mom of one and soon to be another.
and you know how much i love my son.
aren't children just so beautiful?
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