Today is my son's 3rd birthday, and as I reflect on how the last three years have changed my life so much, an awesome feeling a gratitude envelopes me. Being a father is by far the most important thing in my life, and that's so different from just a few years ago. Five years ago it was my career and my material possessions that held court over my mind most of the time. My goal was to move up the corporate ladder, with more responsibility...more power...more authority. I wanted all those long hours in undergrad and graduate school to be justified by my status in Corporate America and in my paycheck. My sense of who I was as a person, was tied primarily to my career, along with my internal value. I was important because I had a title next to my name that someone gave me and was on my business card. That seems so long ago now.
These days the only title I care about is the one that will never show up on a business card, and the one that no one else has control over...my title these days is "Dame Malone -- Daniel's Dad", and its the highest, most influential, most powerful, most enlightening and most responsible title I've ever or could ever have. The only title that means anything to me, because it best describes who I am.
And you can't beat the pay that comes with that title. When he smiles....when we laugh, play, sing, sleep, read together...my compensation is beyond what I could have ever imagined. And I just want my title, "Daniel's Dad" to be justified by my actions as a father...his father...every day, going forward, instead of who I was, what I did, and how hard I worked before.
Yes, he's going to have a party with all of his friends, and schoolmates, and with plenty of cake, and pizza, and birthday hats, and he'll get plenty of gifts and will be in a total frenzy of laughter and playing. But one of his greatest gifts, is one that he won't be able to fully recognize at 3 years-old...not when he's 13, or even 23...but when he is 30 years old and probably has his own son or daughter that's celebrating their 3rd birthday...he'll then recognize more fully...how important his father was in his life, and we'll look each other eye to eye, and he'll also more fully understand how important he was, has been and always will be to me.
Happy Birthday my dear son. I love you more than words can describe, and I just want you to be proud to be my son every day of your life, as that is the greatest gift a Dad could ever receive on this earth, and one that I will spend my entire life...earning.
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