Apropos of Padrehood

Well, this year Father's Day corresponds with the Feast of Pentecost. EK graciously decided to take a long nap at the end of the Liturgy today so that we could stay for the Kneeling Vespers.

Afterwards, JB let me decide what we'd do today since it was "my" day. I thought it would be nice to wander around Kensington and check out some of the antique and used bookstores. The weather was cool and breezy and we sat outside for lunch at "The Tea Room."



After lunch we popped into my favorite used bookstore in Kensington and found they were displaying works from a Castilian artist. There were pencil drawings, etchings, wood carvings, sculptures, and watercolors all dedicated to that knight errant, Don Quixote, who just so happens to be my literary hero. Not having several hundreds of dollars to spare I had to content myself with just imagining what the various pieces would look like in my house.

Fatherhood is "quixotic." My role as a new dad seems full of impossible tasks to conquer in order to fulfill an ideal in my head, much like Don Quixote. I would extend this metaphor to include my wife, but comparing her to Pancho would be unflattering and to Dulcinea flattering, but in the wrong way.  Eventually I serendipitously came upon what it was I was meant to find in the Russian literature section, a 1916 edition of Turgeniev's "Fathers and Sons." A nice memento for my first Father's Day.

And if all that weren't enough, the day ended in the most perfect manner possible. Jennifer and I went to bed with Elias between us. He was still moving around a bit and opening his eyes intermittently when Jennifer got up to go to the bathroom. He typically rolls towards her to cuddle and/or suckle. On this particular night he heaved up a sigh, rolled over towards me, threw his little arm around my neck and promptly fell asleep with his face not two inches from my own.

A Happy Father's Day to all Fathers out there and may God grant you many many years.