My highest calling, I’m privileged to be the father of five great kids! They are as different as night and day and I love each of them in their uniqueness.
My oldest son, Tim, as a few longtime readers will recall, has Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Delay. Having a special needs child brings a unique set of challenges and joys to parenthood. On the one hand, Tim being my first, I didn’t know what to expect and thus didn’t spot his unique difficulties right away. But over the years, he’s taught me so much about the essential simplicity of life.
Arriving a couple of years later, I became that most blessed of fathers; the dad of a daughter. Elizabeth is almost grown up now at age 18, but she is and always will be my little girl. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her, or to anyone that hurts her.
Chronologically, that brings us to my son Toby, whom I consider as much mine as Tim & Elizabeth, although I’m not his biological dad. I count it among my highest honors to be able to fill that role in the lives of my wife’s two children. I can’t go back in time and be their father genetically (how I wish I’d met my wife twenty years ago!), but I can nevertheless be a “dad” to Toby, and I’m gonna do my best to do just that
Switching branches on the family oak again, we arrive at my son William; age 10. My little buddy, he’s my video game partner, canoeing buddy (though we didn’t get to go this year), and my hope for carrying on my branch of the Spencer name.
I am blessed by my daughter Staci through my marriage to Suzi, and she adds the rainbows and unicorns to my world! She’s cinnamon raisin toast and sequined sweaters and little jars of water in the freezer.
Being a father is great, but being Dad is awesome! Tell me about your little one(s)! What makes them unique? What’s your favorite “dad” thing to do?
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