On the airplane, my family sat three one one side and one across the aisle. I was the one across the aisle, with my husband sitting between our boys, reading them books, telling them stories, giving them crayons, offering them fruit and water.
In front of him sat a dad with a month-old baby in his arms, asleep, almost the whole time, except for when the baby woke and the dad fed him, looking at him so lovingly, and then afterward, they both fell asleep, the dad’s baseball hat askew, his hold on his baby at once tender and solid, and his wife and toddler next to him.
And behind me, there was a dad, a mom, a grandmom, and another toddler, maybe a bit younger, and the dad stood in the aisle, helping his child to sleep without the least bit of self-consciousness, rocking him in his arms, singing a song quietly, and the child wiggled and settled, and slept.
I thought, Could I be sitting in a better place? How can anything but good come from the love of these fathers?
* * * with overflowing love and deep appreciation — I am in awe of the love you show us — to my husband Rom.
* * * and with great thankfulness to my father Ralph. Thank you for the gifts you’ve given me, most of all, your dedication to loving and supporting your children and grandchildren.
