A Father's View

Each stage of life with my kids has been better than the last. On becoming a parent, I knew innately I would love my children. What I did not know was that I would like them so much. I look back fondly on the wide-eyed, giggling, sense-of-wonder early days, but as I consider the future, I am filled with a tingling anticipation incomparable to the warm emotions those memories stir.

I have and continue to try to make a small difference in the world. However, in the end, my largest and most important contributions will not be the result of such conscious endeavors. My greatest achievements will stem from that invisible current of energy passed from parent to child. There is a confidence and a light in my children that is uniquely theirs. I helped nurture these elements, but my children are the ones who will use them as fuel to do magnificent things. That will be something to see.

Until then, I will enjoy their every boisterous act, respectful display, puckish exploit, quiet minute, minor success, spectacular scheme and wondrous accomplishment.

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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.