My newest son needs another bottle and is fussy, my beautiful and energetic daughter is doing backbends and shouting for me to watch her, which I intently do because she has worked so hard on them, my oldest son needs help double knotting his cleats and my wife is frantically putting together the diaper bag. We are running late for baseball, and I can't be late because I'm the coach and my son counts on me. The dog is running around and music is playing in the background, with the TV still on some Disney Youtube video. It's utter chaos this Saturday morning at the Bartons' house and all I can think is ... wow, I must be the luckiest man alive.
It's funny that I think about that Lou Gehrig line because my mind is always on sports and the man who gave me that gift was taken from me so young but left a lasting impact. My father was a truly great man, one who I was told my whole life how great he was and not only after he passed. In a world full of wrong directions that he could have taken, he always seemed to take the right path, and as a dad now, I still don't know how he always made the right choices. He didn't drink, smoke or seemingly have any vices. He worked hard and long hours, yet always had the energy to come home and play with his kids. My father was taken from me at a very early age and was sick for most of the life that I had with him. Hard work, dedication to your kids and family and love are all aspects that he tried to instill into me. I know I'll never live up to the incredible man that he was, but I try very hard to.
Father's Day used to be a sad day for me, because I wanted him back so much, but it's funny how your priorities and life change so quickly once children get involved. The moment my son was born and as my wife says "made me a father,"—I didn't see Father's Day as a sad day, rather a chance to celebrate the life that I have been given. Now, my first-ever Father's Day with three children, I have three times the celebration. Waking up to homemade gifts, a kids-cooked breakfast and heading out to spend the day at the beach with my favorite people on earth only makes me realize how lucky I am. This isn't to say that I won't take a minute to reflect on the greatness that was my Dad, but my mindset has been shifted.
I often explain life through a sports lense and I can perfectly sum it up with a sports-slanted view this Father's Day. The greatest father-son moment in film history happens during a sports movie. When Kevin Costner asks his father "Hey, Dad, do you want to have a catch?" even the toughest man will accuse someone of cutting onions nearby. But, that scene is completely different for me now. For decades, I used to think that the only thing in the world that I would ever want is to see my dad one more time and ask him to have a catch. Yes, that would be the heaven that Fields of Dreams is. But, that dream has changed and has become a new version of heaven. Now, instead of me asking my dad for one more catch, it will be my kids asking me to throw that ball around one more time. And the greatness of my dad was that he wouldn't want it any other way.