Father Knows Best

I don’t think you can appreciate what a father really does until you have a child. For me, I thought I knew what I wanted and did not want in a father. I based this on my own experiences with my dad, whom I adored. Did he frustrate me? Did he charm me? Did he confound me? Of course my father did! But there was so much more to the role than I would ever imagine. And, when I really think about it, that’s a blessing.
Truth be told, we were not the most prepared parents. I thought that I was suffering from a wicked bout of stomach flu and not baking up a human being. Yes, I admit, it is a sad start to life when the child in question is confused with bad taco meat. But there it is.
My husband, on the other hand, was the first to take up the task of parenting. He seemed to “get it” long before I ever did and in many ways he still does. This is the man who taught my child to play ball, defend herself on the playground when the other kids at the park called her a boy and who made sure she always had gas in the tank. Physically and metaphorically, Jeff Jennings has fueled the vehicle we have put so much of our lives into.
A few days ago, he did that thing he does. Between cramming a handful of chocolate chips into his skinny frame, and foraging for some cold milk, he muttered words of profound wisdom. “You know Julia, life’s secret is simple. It’s someone to love. Some place to go. Something to do.”
“Really,” I drawled. “Not chocolate chips, chocolate cookies, chocolate scones and while, we’re at it throw in some chocolate mud pie?”
“Well,” he demurred, “that sure helps all things along!”
So there it is. A man who can wolf down chocolate at a whim and skill keep to within seven pounds of the day I met him some 37 years ago holds the mystery of fatherhood over me. He ambles through life with a quiet, yet fierce calm. His quick smile, uncanny ability to cut through the meat and down to the bone astounds me.
Jeff Jennings has embraced the role of fatherhood for so many in our family. It is one of the greatest gifts of our lives. He wears the mantle of patriarch with flair for sure. Sometimes that cape has magical powers shared only with Superman. At other times, it swirls with the flair of Houdini. I kinda wish he would figure out how to wear the apron of Julia Child, but that’s another story.
I knew the minute our child emerged from the oven she could survive without me. I had been the vessel to deliver this life. But without her father, that would be tragic. He would be the glue that held us together, keeper of the humor and defender of the absurd.
As a father, Mr. Jennings has taught me to be a better mother. He has cultivated my notions of spirtual grace, strength, fortitude and humor. In this way, he has given me so much to love, so many places to go and so much yet to do. What could be better than that?
From the Heart…