On Parenthood.........

Eleven years. Eleven years of school. Parent school, that is. Being a son didn't prepare me for it. Being a big brother didn't prepare me for it. Being an uncle didn't prepare me for it. Only by jumping in with reckless abandon with both feet and with eyes wide open can you enter this school. Don't hold your nose when you jump in. Being a parent is a smelly job. There are no diplomas awarded, no graduation day. Throw away your rose colored glasses and jump in. This is not a school for the faint of heart or the weak minded. Jump in and sink all the way to the bottom. You will get water in your eyes, in your nose and ears, and in your lungs. Breathe it in. Don't be afraid. Swim around......... your vision isn't clear. You can see, but your eyesight is clouded. The objects are identifiable, but shapes and forms take on a different meaning down here. Your 'friends' may drift away, completely out of view. Your priorities will change. The murky water below you hides what lies ahead, but you have to go deeper to fully understand what it's all about. This is not a job for the uncommitted. Brave swimming in the dark, gently feeling your way with your hands, getting your elbows bloody by the jagged rocks, facing down the sharks, just to feel pressure inside your head as you go deeper. The undertow will push and pull you threatening to throw you off course. But you know there is treasure down here. There is treasure everywhere. There is air down here. There is light. There is beauty and knowledge and wisdom.. "Schools" of thought and opinion will swim right at you, tempting and promising you a better way. But you know there is an Anchor down here. Firmly embedded in the floor. Many divers have heard about the Anchor but found no particular beauty in it because it promises trials and tribulation. It requires you to be fully grounded to it and to never leave it. It requires sacrifice because it knows sacrifice. It is Sacrifice............Let us gently lead our children to the Anchor. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARLY. I LOVE YOU. DADDY