Birthdays...

Hmm...this stinks, I am now 32 years of age...and starting my 33rd year of life.

Tonight I received the greatest gift I have ever received. A little background...I am a gift person. If you are aware of the 5 love languages, I am a gift person through and through...there's no doubt about it. I love giving and receiving gifts.

I have gone throughout my life never wanting and truly being blessed, whether it be tangible things or true friends. All day long I have received numerous Facebook birthday wishes, text messages, phone calls and even a cookie delivery at my office. But by far, the greatest gift came this evening when I put my daughter down to sleep.

Bedtime for Isabelle has never been an easy time; a typical bedtime starts at 7:45 PM, hoping that she will fall asleep by 8 PM. Usually Susan and I walk out of her room exhausted and irritated at about 8:30 or 8:45 PM. Tonight was no different, except that I was alone (Susan is on a business trip), and Isabelle was her usual self. She always has that "oh...I forgot to do {insert stalling tactic of the night here}" and needs to rearrange her stuffed animals and pillows, and needs to find the right spot of the bed, and needs one more story, and needs to sing that last song, and on and on. Tonight was a little different though...she needed me. All she wanted was for daddy to rub her back, and stroke her hair and for her to be able to hold my thumb as she fell asleep. I probably broke all the parenting rules and set her "schedule" back about 2 weeks (if Susan is reading this you can imagine the head nodding. Right. About. Now.). However, as I lay there next to her, I realized that for the past 2 or so years, I was always too busy or too impatient to just be daddy. I got to be a daddy again tonight, I was there for my daughter when she needed me. I was able to re>root myself as a dad. For me, that was a gift I will never forget...

You see, re>rooting for me is not simply being able to take my family and move them from Bloomington to Chicago, re>rooting are these little experiences that I have unfortunately let slip away. One of my friends mentioned that September was an amazing month for me - on the surface - yes, it was. I finished Agency training, finished school, closed on our house, packed and moved and had a birthday. But at 8:00 PM on 9/15/08, I experienced the greatest moment a dad could ever experience - a daughter's true expression of love...her little hand holding my finger and saying "don't go, just stay."

Hmmm...my 33rd year is going to be great.