It was the scariest thing that had happened in all of my few years. The doctor had decided to take my tonsils out. My mom stayed up all night the night before and made me an amazing robe that felt like a warm hug, and my dad took me to the hospital in “the big city,” where he would spend the night with my aunt a few blocks away and come back before my surgery the next day.
Dad was running very late and had already been driving for hours. He was exhausted that night as he got me settled into my little hospital room. If I remember correctly, we watched an episode of M*A*S*H* together on the television in the room.
I was pretty nervous (and young), so I didn’t fully appreciate the humor in watching a show about surgery as I waited for my own. I think he was hoping it would put me to sleep. It didn’t work.
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When it came time for him to leave I tried really hard to be brave. I knew how tired he was. But when he saw the fear in my eyes he called my aunt and told her he wouldn’t be coming over after all, and he spent the night in my room.
That exhausted man slept in a chair that night.
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As I thought about Father’s Day this year, and what project I could create to celebrate it, I felt drawn to these quotes. My own father has passed away, but there are so many other fathers I know and love, and even though they are incredibly different from each other, there really is something special about who they are and what they do for the children in their lives.
As I reflect on that experience so many years ago, I feel especially grateful that my own children also have a Father who knows how to counter the fear of their scariest days with a little extra love.
