William is smiling with a little Guatemalan girl in his lap. Both are looking at the camera when the photo was taken during medical mission trip to Guatemala. That was in 2008. Two years later, we are dating. He showed me the Facebook photo when I asked him about his most meaningful experience there.
The look in his eyes immediately captured my attention. They are bright, wide, and full of compassion for this little girl whose name he never knew. A paramedic at the time, he had spotted her in a long line of people waiting for medical care. They made a powerful connection with no words and William wrote a small piece about it.
It was this photo and what he wrote that made me fall in love with him even more because it told me that he would make a great Dad.
Five years later, William became a Dad.
Today he chuckles when he pours bath water over our son’s head because Liam giggles as his arms flail and his legs splash the water. Then Daddy tenderly soaps and scrubs down Liam’s slippery body as they exchange nonsensical babbles. I sit on the toilet lid and watch – holding Liam’s towel – and my heart is warmed by how well father and son respond to each other.
Equally moving to me is how eager Daddy is to take Liam grocery shopping. Usually it’s to give me a break, but I also suspect Daddy shows off our little squirt to the “deli ladies,” the employees who package our weekly pound of turkey slices. They delight in seeing Liam.
Last week, Liam woke up around 11:30 p.m. when he had been sleeping through the night for weeks, and had difficulty going back to sleep even after I fed him. I was annoyed, baffled and exhausted by 12:30 a.m. William told me to return to bed and he sat up with Liam. I’m not sure what father and son did or long it was, but I was so grateful for his help even when he had to be at work early the next day.
Daddy can do dirty diaper changes in the dark with his tied behind his back. He’s almost as fast as me. Daddy knows how to make our squirt laugh when they wrestle. Daddy can persuade Liam to eat almost all his vegetables.
I know we’ve only scratched the surface in parenting , but I am already so blessed that my wonderful husband loves being a Dad. Happy Father’s Day, Honey! I’m looking forward to the next 20 years of this.