I didn’t become a man until the day I became a father.
A couple days before I became a dad I was sitting in an Irish Pub with my buddy Eddie. He pointed to my belongings on the bar next to my pint. Sun glasses, keys, phone….“Jumbo? You see these few things you carry with you today? That will all change very soon.”
……and Eddie was right!
From that day forward and for many years to follow I left the house with diapers, wipes, pacifiers, bottles, vanilla wafers….
It was a complicated delivery, four weeks early. George’s mother had a tough time bringing our first child into the world.
I had my right hand behind her head, my left arm holding her leg up. We were breathing together, I was counting breaths and timing the pushes. It was the closest and most loving we ever were with each other.
Sixteen years later that baby is the size of an offensive guard. Unfortunately his mother and I are at the furthest and most hateful points in the relationship.
We did share the best day of our life together and that will never change. The day our firstborn arrived.
I saw Eddie recently…. 16 years later. Next to my bottle of beer laid my keys, my sunglasses and my phone.
In his Chicagonese accent,
“Life might seem simple again. Little kids, Little problems…. Big kids, Big problems!”
Southside Irish guys and their words of advice….
Happy Birthday Baby Jumbo.
