Thursday, August 14, 2008

Memories of Water

Swimming with my nearly five-year-old son in the calm waters of the NJ shore was a real treat a few days ago. There's something special about splashing against the waves with your kid at the beach. It reminded me of swimming with my own dad so many years before.

Driving home, Charlie asked me to tell him about story about when I was a little boy - something that he asks fairly often. I told him about how my dad, a lawyer, once surprised me when I was in Third Grade, on a hot day in June, by yanking me out of school halfway through the day and taking my three-year-old sister and I to Nantasket Beach. He had brought a cooler of sandwiches, drinks and fruit for us to munch on while resting atop our beach blanket. We also brought an inner tube to float around in the cold, calm, salty water. It was a day I'll always remember.

My wife suggested I write about this to demonstrate how dads, even full time working ones, can go the extra mile to spend time with their kids. That's how my dad was and still is. He worked full time but I never really felt his absence because he was always doing things like that beach day. Family was never far from his mind. I'm blessed to have him as my dad and even more blessed to be swimming in the water with my own son.

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