Family
The end of fathering
I recently participated in a wonderful occasion: my son getting married. Beyond the pomp and circumstance, however, this event prompted me to reflect about being a father.
It would seem that my responsibility as a father to Ben has officially ended. As a wise friend observed, with marriage Ben must turn first to his spouse, not to me. One thing, however, won’t change: Ben will always be my son. This part of fatherhood is for life.
Even when our children have moved out, pay their own bills, get married, and become parents, we fathers will still see them in diapers; remember reading stories to them at bedtime; recall teaching them to hit a baseball and watching them drive away in our car. They grow up, but not in our memories.
ACTION IDEAS:
The local fathering effort, in cooperation with the National Center for Fathering, provides bi-weekly action ideas to stimulate conversation between fathers and parents.
For more information, or to join local conversations, contact
Mick Trombley at mick@apartmentstore.com
David Eggebeen at e5x@psu.edu
Robert Orndorff at rmo104@psu.edu
Marc McCann at 237-1719 or marc@thesecondmile.org
Comments