Wednesday, April 25, 2001

A walk in the woods

By GREGORY K. MOFFATT, PH. D
Child's Play

It was Easter Sunday. Hard rain had fallen most of the day, but the sun decided to peek through the clouds by mid afternoon.

My four-year-old son wanted to play outside. In order to keep him out of the mud, I went outside with him and I watched him as he worked diligently to step in every puddle yet trying to make it look like an accident each time.

As we walked, we talked about Easter, his t-ball game the day before, and his friends. He told me many important things, like how our dog likes to chew on rocks and why he would never eat a rock. He explained to me that the grass grew because the rain went into the ground and pushed it out.

He also told me that when he got to be a daddy, that we would be "two dads," but that I would be very old. He was exactly right.

He took my hand and we walked quietly for a few minutes. He had to walk slowly because his feet kept slipping out of his sandals.

"Benjamin," I said to him, "I really like it when you hold my hand."

Benjamin looked at me and very matter-of-factly stated, "I like that, too, Dad when you hold my hand."

There in the dampness of the wet grass, feeling the sun on my shoulders and my son's hand snuggly in my palm, I realized I was the richest man in the world. I would not trade that moment for all the money in Bill Gates' bank accounts.

Benjamin was right, of course. One of these days I will be old. Equally real is the fact that one of these days he will be old, too. He won't need my hand as often.

Our day started very early. I was awake and in my office at home at 4:30am. Faintly audible were the rumblings of a thunderstorm on its way and I knew it wouldn't be long before the noise of the storm awoke my children.

The thunder grew louder as the storm neared and by six o'clock, a bright flash of lightening and a loud clap of thunder awoke my son in the room next to my office. He called out and I went to rescue him.

"The thunder scares me," he said. He sat in my lap, safe from the troubles of the storm. I wish I could always find it so easy to help him ease his troubles and fears, but life isn't that way. As he gets older he will have to face some of his fears alone.

I don't think we can be reminded too often that the time we have with our children is fleeting. It seems like moments ago that I snuggled with a tiny baby in a maternity ward our first baby who is not so small any more. She was so little and I was so young. Now, she is an adolescent, clearly ready to move into adulthood.

What a contrast to see my three children together, each at a different stage of life. I know one of these days it will be my grandchildren that I compare and I will wonder where the years went.

Like men who have walked on the moon, climbed Mt. Everest, and sledded to the North Pole, I have had experiences in my life that I can never forget ones that left an indelible impression on me. The really exceptional thing about my experiences, however, is that they did not require extreme courage or endurance. They only required that I notice them.

"I like that, too, Dad - when you hold my hand." Indeed, I have all I could ever want.