My First Father's Day
by Michael MeehanMy first Father's Day lasted exactly one hour. Our baby wasn't due until later in the week, but for months I had entertained visions of getting the ultimate Father's Day present. As far as I'm concerned, a baby beats a tie any day of the week.
Well, Father's Day came and gave us a good running joke. My wife would present her belly to me and wish me a happy Father's Day. Then she'd remind me that I would likely have to wait a year before the holiday counted for anything.
Otherwise we had ourselves a regular day and it spilled over into a regular evening. My wife jokingly apologized for not having a Father's Day gift ready for me, but promised I'd be getting it real soon. Turns out the joke was on her.
She woke me at 11 p.m. with a confused look on her face. "I think my water broke," she said.
"Don't you know?" I asked, coming out of my daze.
What she had was a slow, steady leak. Water kept coming out at a trickle, not the big whoosh you expect when you think of a pregnant woman's water breaking. But it kept coming and, after a few minutes, we decided that, yes indeed, this was the start of labor. At which point my wife looked at me and said, "Happy Father's Day."
My son wasn't born for another 23 hours and, officially speaking, I couldn't claim to be an actual father on Father's Day. I mean, I couldn't produce a baby or anything to certify my parental standing. Still, I remember lying in bed and thinking to myself, "I'm going to be a daddy. In a couple of hours I'm going to be holding my child. Hey Mikey, your carefree days are over."
Fatherhood seems like a remote prospect even when your wife is full-blown pregnant and you've seen the ultrasounds. With that first kid, the whole notion that you're about to be put in charge of shaping another human life takes on a surreal quality. I mean, fatherhood? What's that?
After my wife's water broke, the world changed. My first Father's Day turned out to be the day I came face to face with the reality that I would, and could, be a father. It was the day that father stopped being a word I used and became the man I am.
