A father’s tears

Now why would a father be crying when Father's Day is Sunday? It's simple, it is because I am a father and consider it the most important duty I've ever been blessed with.

I was raised during a time when a father was supposed to be the immovable pillar of a family - and where open displays of emotion were supposedly a sign of weakness. However since we supposedly learn from the examples set in our lives, what I learned is that I did not want to bury my emotions as an adult and as a father.

I have cried often as a direct result of being a father, but since I have been fortunate to have great kids, those tears have most often been tears of joy instead of tears of sadness or sorrow.

I remember distinctly driving home from the hospital when my son was born and breaking into tears, because he was still in the hospital with his mother and I was away from him.

I recall crying when my daughter was born prematurely, mostly because I was scared we might never bring her home from the hospital. Fortunately not only did she survive, but has thrived.

I now shed tears of a different sort. They are internal tears that escape when I realize my two children are now adults, and are no longer in need of a "daddy," although I will forever be their proud father.

The tear ducts opened up again recently, when I took my daughter to the airport after she had chosen to spend her week's vacation and her hard-earned money to come out to visit us and attend the graduations of her stepsister and stepbrother. After saying goodbye to her at the airport, she was headed back to Iowa, some 2,000 miles away.

My kids are always going to make me cry, but I will always enjoy that the tears are the product of an extremely close bond with each of them, and I would not have it any other way.