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I just go in there sometimes because I miss her. ”
A FATHER’S EMOTIONS MATTER Here’s to the Dads missing their Big Kids today
by Elizabeth Spencer
T he other night, I heard my husband walking around our younger daughter’s bedroom. She’s in college three states away, so I couldn’t figure out why he was in there. She leaves her door open whenever she goes back to school, so he wasn’t invading her privacy, but I still wondered what he was doing in there. When I asked him, he said, “I just go in there sometimes because I miss her.” I write a lot in this space about moms missing their big kids, because you’re supposed to write what you know, and as a mom, that’s what I know. But of course, fathers feel that ache for their grown children, too. So, here’s to the dads missing their big
kids today. Maybe they’re missing their college, military, career, or married kids. Maybe they’re missing teenagers who still live at home but aren’t around much anymore. Maybe they’re missing kids who spend all their time when they are home in rooms their dads aren’t invited into. Maybe they’re missing older kids who’ve changed so much, they seem like strangers. Maybe they’re missing the days when they taught their kids how to swim or ride a bike. Maybe they’re missing the days when they played games or watched games. Maybe they’re missing the days when they coached their kids’ soccer or Little League teams.
Maybe they’re missing the days when they ate dinner together or just hung out. After my husband told me why he’d gone into our daughter’s room, he said,“But when I went in there tonight, I was thinking how happy I am that she’s coming home soon.” So, here’s also to the dads looking forward. Looking forward to reunions and reunitings. To homecomings and holidays. To next times and new times. To just being in the same space as their children. Looking forward…not to finishing what they started all those years ago with the kids they love and miss so much but to adding onto it and seeing where it takes them next.
118 SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 25 ISSUE 3
HEALTH & WELLNESS • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE 119
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