It Was 21 Years Ago Today...

At essence, not much was different. I was a lawyer, happy and anxious at the same time. I had a wife and a house, and was prematurely in charge of an aging mother. (She seemed an old woman THEN!!!!). I had 2 dogs.

Wifey woke me before dawn, thinking her water broke. We were calm as we left for South Miami Hospital. Wifey spend the whole day in labor. It was a Sunday. The Dolphins lost to the Jets in one of those great Marino/O'Brien shootouts. The score was 40 something to 40 something. The late game began at 4. San Diego played. Around 5:30, Drs. Strasborg (a mellow, U Wisconsin Madison grad who clearly smoked a LOT of dope in his day) and Wifey's friend/doc Debbie Kenward (the smart, nice Jewish girl from Kendall who started at Miami Dade and made it through UF Med School) decided it was time for a Ceasearean (or babyectomy, as I called it).

And so, that evening, EVERYTHING changed. I fell in love in a way I didn't know one could love. D1 was born!

Three and a half years later, her sister joined our wolfpack, and I learned I could love that way AGAIN.

Wifey and I were exquisitely happy. We had a 1300 square foot house and 2 cheap Mazdas, and felt as rich as anyone we knew.

We brought D1 home, to the place we nicknamed "The House where it's impossible to be lonely."

And then, someone put the VCR tape on fast forward. Pre K, Elementary School, Middle School, High School, College, Friends, Lost Friends, Illnesses, Deaths, --it whizzed by.

So now we have a 21 year old daughter. A real woman. A member of society considered an adult in the eyes of all except rental car companies. And her sister is running, at breakneck speed, right behind.

So I'm still a lawyer, somehow. Wifey and I are still married, and looking to celebrate our 23rd anniversary. I'm still in charge of caring for my mother (no longer aging --now, like cheese, FULLY AGED). I still have 2 dogs (and a granddog, who, as I write, is taunting the Basset Hound and then fleeing, in a comic pastiche).

The house is much bigger, but my favorite part of it is sitting outside, admiring the trees, the same as I did at the tiny first house. I guess, when D2 moves out, it will no longer be impossible to be lonely, but it's still a pretty happy place.

So Happy 21st, my darling daughter. Revel in loving and being loved. Continue to live outside of your own head. Give. Learn --always. Never grow tired of appreciating beauty.

And accept the gratitude of an aging father who fell deeply and and madly in love, and remains so 21 years later.