Micah crawled into bed with Sarah and me this morning, blanket and pillow in hand. I didn’t know what time it was, but there was a bit of light slipping through the cracks of the the blinds, so I knew it was early, but not too early.
He has started doing this again. Micah used to regularly come get into bed in the morning, sometimes the middle of the night, when he was a toddler. We eventually considered it a bad habit and weened him from that behavior. But as he’s started doing it again for the first time in a few years I don’t mind it so much this time around, even though he’s quickly approaching eight years old. I know the days are limited for Micah to still be small enough to sneak into mom and dad’s bed and nestle in between them while they sleep. Under the pillow he’ll fish for my hand until he finds a finger or two, and then interlock his fingers with mine and drift back off to sleep. Sometimes, once the morning light is bright enough, he’ll lift up his hands into the streams of sunlight, motioning for my hand to join his so that way we can compare our hands and fingers, eventually holding hands together without saying a word. It’s a very sweet little ritual, and something that I know I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
***
After some time this morning I heard the pitter-patter of Ezra’s feet running into the bedroom and to the side of our bed.
“I got six dollars!” Ezra said, proudly holding up six dollar bills. Although, it didn’t sound like that exactly. It sounded more like, “I got sith dowwarth!”
Ezra has lost two teeth in three days, and he’s now having trouble pronouncing words. He forgot two days in a row to put the first tooth under his pillow, but he made sure to remember to put them both under his pillow last night.
“That’s great Ezra! That’s three bucks a tooth!” I said.
***
Micah wasn’t feeling well last night, and before I had made it to bed he ended up vomiting into the bathroom sink, and, sorry if this is graphic, clogged it. Sarah attempted to plunge it, but ended up only making a mess that got all over herself. (Again, sorry for the graphic detail).
That scene was actually a fairly good metaphor for yesterday as a whole. It had been an extremely hard day with our Boys Town girls, and by the end of the day it kind of felt like of course our bathroom sink was clogged with vomit, why wouldn’t it be?
So the first thing I did this morning when I got out of bed was unclog the bathroom sink. And I chuckled as I thought to myself, “Happy Father’s Day, Andrew.”
***
Because I don’t replace the fathers that have been in the lives of many of my girls’ lives, they sometimes affectionately call me “Da” instead of Dad. Days like Father’s Day are very special to me. I really value being the primary male influence in the lives of our girls. I do not take it lightly. So when girls write me little notes or letters thanking me for being a part of their lives, it means the world to me. Those notes can help carry me through some of the worst days.
One of my girls gave me this note this morning. It’s been an emotional couple days with her, so this really meant a lot to me to read:
***
Every Sunday we enjoy brunch as a family. It’s one of my favorite times each week. The atmosphere usually feels fairly relaxed and we often chat about the message we heard at church or other things going on in the world. Brunch is also usually filled with lots of laughter.
After brunch this morning Sarah and the boys gave me the ultimate dad gift: power tools!
I’ve wanted to learn how to do basic DIY woodworking projects for about six years now. However, I’ve never invested in the various tools I would need to do so. I’ve also lacked the space to do so since coming to Boys Town. But since we will be moving into a house fairly soon, Sarah decided it would be nice to have some tools in the new garage to be able to start on some basic woodworking projects. I am very excited.
***
To end the day, the girls and I watched one of my favorite movies together, Interstellar. It was actually really fun for me to watch them all experience it for the first time.
After a long and tough last few days here, today was much needed. And it encouraged me to remember to always push through the hard days because they don’t last. The rewards of this life my family has here are so much greater than the toughest of days.
***
Ezra grabbed my camera and took a photo of me when I was sitting at the dining room table this afternoon. I look happy in the photo. And it is because I was indeed happy when he shot that photo.
I am very thankful for this day. And tonight I go to bed with a peaceful spirit.
Stepping Back 