On Fatherhood. The most poignant observation I’ve made between a father and child is that which I’ve observed between my husband and our daughter and soon after, our son. He called her little bean. And she was. A tie from the start, literally, her very first moments, she had his heart and he’s held her there. Wide-eyed little bean, really wide, he carried her about the room and it was as if they were old friends. As if she’d always been his daughter. Indeed. Yet, there was more, it was even bigger than I could articulate. Though hard to construe, I recognized how it made me feel just in watching. I felt safe. Safer than I ever had in my whole life. She was protected, covered, secure. So was I. His arms enveloped her, fixed and unyielding. He was prodigious and towering compared to her wee, slight person. It was untouchable, the whole moment, an isolated haven of everything ever meant to be. In the many days since, I’ve never lost that feeling. The days have been long, the years short and time has a way of altering momentary perfection. Even so, whether climbing up mountainous challenge or flying over with victory flag in tow, it is still exactly as it was ever meant to be. And, in just observing, I’ve been all the greater changed by this one man, the leader of our home, the father of my children. Beholden.

To all the Kings of all the castles, a very Happy Father’s Day.