So far I’ve missed Gilliam’s first crawl, first solid food, first steps, and first word. As heartbreaking as it is, he was only 6 months old when I left for Pakistan, so missing those milestones were expected. Not that I am minimizing my fatherly regret for being away… that regret is real… but you can’t expect a boy to stop growing while you’re away.
However, I had only prepared myself to miss Gilliam’s milestones. I hadn’t given any thought to potential Grayson milestones I might miss this year. And I have to say… when it happened, the feelings of absence took me completely off guard.
A while back I mentioned that my parents were giving Grayson a new bicycle for Christmas. And while I was putting it together Serena asked me not to put the training wheels on, “He’s ready for a two wheeler.”
I was pretty surprised… I hadn’t even thought of Grayson as a two wheeler riding kid. I was pretty excited by the idea. But unfortunately, there was too much snow on the ground for us to take it for a test drive before I left.
So… about a week later Serena taught Grayson to ride his bike. “He’s so good honey, he’s a natural. You’ll be so proud of him.”
And I am. I am incredible proud of Grayson for learning to ride his bike without training wheels. And I am equally thankful to have Serena as my better half. She is doing such an amazing job with the boys while I’m away.
But, at the same time… I wish I had been there.
And I guess that’s all I have to say about that.
1 comment:
This tugs at my heart. My thanks go to you (and to your family) for your service.
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