One of the fun traditions I have learned to adopt by marrying into the Kennedy family is to share gifts for every existing holiday and Lindsey does this very well, so for many years, we have given gifts to each other for Mother's Day and Father's Day although not yet parents. Ava's birth, of course, made this year more special for us.
Lindsey brought Ava in to wake me this morning to wish me a happy Father's Day. Seeing her smiling, bubbly face warmed me inside and I held her as much as I could today because she and Lindsey are still in College Station where we spent the weekend. I had to come back to Nacogdoches alone tonight to go to work tomorrow and won't see them until Wednesday.
It amazes me to experience new feelings as a parent. It is commonly said that one cannot understand the love a parent has for a child until one becomes a parent, and that is true. The new feeling I encountered tonight came as I said goodbye to my wife and child. At just under 4 months old, I realized Ava has not yet developed to the point of understanding my absense. When I come home from work, or take her from her crib when she wakes in the morning, she smiles and giggles when she sees me, but when our eyes met as I climbed into the car, I could see that she was not sad that I was leaving, she simply smiled. As sad as I was to leave me little family, that realization made me feel even sadder. I wonder, though, if she does think of me at this stage of her development.
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