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Twenty-five years ago my wife was in hard labor, struggling to bring our son into the world. He wasn’t coming easily enough, so after a very long day the doctor performed an emergency Caesarean section. I was able to be with my wife in the OR, and as I watched, our son was brought into the outside world. After a brief cleaning and assessment by the staff, I was handed a life-changing bundle of wonder who forever changed me from just a man into a father. I recall seeing my own father’s face in his, a poignant moment of realization that my son carries forward a heritage as I have, a new generation with bright promise for the future. I brought him close for my wife to see him for the first time, and we bonded as a family, a couple only minutes before.
A month later we came to realize the fragility of his young life. Having been out of town for a week-long work assignment, I didn’t realize I was carrying RSV home like a nightmare souvenir. Our precious baby boy spiked a ferociously high fever in practically no time, and sage advice from a pediatrician at church had us racing to the hospital. Within what seemed like only minutes we were all quarantined and his tiny arm had an IV installed in it so the staff could work around the clock to arrest the fever and bring him back to health. Until we were sent home we were never certain our son would survive. Thankfully, he proved to be strong and resilient.
Skipping forward three and a half years, I came home from a long work assignment overseas, surprising my wife and son by getting home earlier than expected. I was so stunned by how beautiful he was, a boy who had a look that could melt anyone’s heart and who, thanks to a local photographer, got to be the cover child for the local parenting periodical. I recall a sense of wonder that such an amazing child was mine.
A few weeks later our only child became a big brother. He was so proud of his beautiful baby sister, and he helped with her every chance he could. Special older sibling classes at the hospital taught him how to swaddle her and change her diapers, and his experiences at home with our cat taught him gentleness and patience to augment the love and kindness bubbling from his soul. From that early age my son exhibited a sense of responsibility and maturity beyond his years.
Throughout his school time he repeatedly proved himself to be a leader, confident in who he was and compassionate for those who walked a more challenging path in life. Our son kept his mother and father proud of his tenacity and strong character.
Fast forward to about two years ago … Living and learning and a worldwide pandemic had him back home from a nearby city and working at a local automotive maintenance garage. We were enjoying getting to catch up and have extra time together, and he was focusing on work and reconnecting with friends. One of the customers at his job noticed and developed a crush on my son. Thanks to friends of friends, they soon started chatting via text, realizing over time that they were becoming very close. He was excited, talking about how he had a sense that this budding friendship might be really significant. Soon the meticulously-planned first date arrived, and I remember asking my son afterward how it had gone — he said with an enormous smile, “She’s adorable!”
It wasn’t long before my wife and I met her, and in due course we had fallen in love with her, too. Our son has high standards, and he had found the yin to his yang (and vice versa) in every way. Their relationship has continued to blossom, and in a few days they will unite in a matrimony I might have chosen for them if our culture had arranged marriages. We were talking just last week about how he would soon have a permanent groove in his finger as I do from rarely removing my wedding ring, to which he replied, “I’m looking forward to that!”
It is an amazing experience to see a tiny infant grow to be a thriving man, and it is an honor to gain a daughter who is every bit as inspiring as him. They are both strong, yet tender, with compassion that unites them as a couple and bubbles over to those around them. Someday they will make fantastic parents. I don’t think it’s humanly possible to be more proud of them than I am.
To Dex and Olivia, may your years together be filled with the best experiences of your lives, and may you always find strength in each other to complement the strength you each have individually. As you embark on a lifetime adventure that will always have its surprises, may your dreams and ambitions together come to fruition, always rooted in love.
