For years now (more than a decade of them) a friend and I have been playing the “who’s the first to become an adult game”. It started in college and was simply a game that would define the moment when you became a man. You entered adulthood when you bought frames for your posters or purchased a box spring for your mattress were common life-changing events of the time. As we aged, those moments became more mature scenarios like drafting a will, buying life insurance or having your first hernia operation.
This summer when my wife and I took a trip abroad without our toddler I realized I had officially become a man. The moment I recognized I was helpless to the person whose life depended on me. Across the ocean and in capable hands he was safe and secure but still I appreciated at that moment what it means to have grown up.
Having someone depend on you and allowing yourself to feel absolutely responsible for their safety and security.
Eight years ago, I became a husband and was on the path to adulthood. Four years ago on a houseboat in Amsterdam eating some outstanding pastries during our “State of the Union” discussion we deliberated starting a family and my journey towards becoming a man grew a little more solid.
Now that I am fully committed to fatherhood I am complete and this self-realization would never have happened had it not been for my wife. Her giving me a family is the greatest gift I could have ever asked for. Even if the sacrifice is being convinced to grow up a little.
Thank you for helping me become the best person I can be.
Wow…you just got me all teary eyed! Throughout college you were one of those guys that I didn’t see getting married, and certainly never saw having a child. I remember the day you told me you had bought a mattress while living in Hagerstown, and I thought…he is growing up! Shortly after that you met Susan and she slowly but surely chipped away at the walls and turned you into a family man. I will never forget the day you became her husband, and the most amazing day of all…the day you got Judah. What an incredible husband, father and ADULT man you have become. Love you!