Only a Dad

Came across this poem today and I'd thought I'd share:

Only a Dad
… But the Best of Men.
Only a dad, with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race;
Bringing little of gold and fame
To show how well he has played the game,
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come home and to hear his voice.

Only a dad, of a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more,
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and scorns of life
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd,
Toiling, striving, from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way;
Silent, whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad, but he gives his all
To smooth the way for his children small;
Doing, with courage stern and grim,
The deeds that his father did for him.
These are the lines that for him I pen;
Only a dad, but the best of men.

(Author Unknown. Source Book of Poetry, Al Bryant, comp.; Grand Rapids, Zondewan Publishing House, 1968.)

Perhaps I am being overly sentimental. My life has been incredibly busy lately - mostly with (once again) trying to determine what I want to be when I grow up. What will my role be in society? Will I make a difference? Will I be happy in a world of distractions and disappointments?

Over the past several years, I have held a philosophy that may or may not be shared with others: When things are a mess, refocus on the basics. It has worked extremely well at work, and I realize it is what I have been (unconciously?) doing for the past few weeks. My point being this: I am a father. It is what I am, it is who I am, it is what I want to be. All the rest is just "chrome" on the car of life - pretty to look at, but ultimately non-functional.

The unspoken (unwritten) foundation for that previous paragraph is that I also want to be a husband. Leslie and I were talking last night about how nice it is to be such good friends that while their might be times we don't spend as much time with each other as we'd like, we will always be there when the time is right. I love my wife more than I can conceivably put into words. Sure, there are those times when I get grumpy (more often than I should) or she gets irritated with me (not nearly as much as she has a right to). But I know that after I ride in on my white horse to rescue her from a dragon, we can ride off together in the same saddle towards the next adventure where she will most likely rescue me from the next dragon to come along. We're a team, we're in love, and no matter what life throws at us, I know she's "got my back."

Yup, it's back to basics for me. And the basics = my family.