I guess I should post something about this since everyone is emailing and commenting about it already. So, here goes.
This past week my wife and I had a little surprise, and not the kind of surprise that results in cake, presents, and a trip to Cancun. It was “THE” suprise, and it was the biggest surprise of my life up to this point. In case you don’t know what I’m referring to allow me to fill you in. My wonderful wife and I just found out that we will be having out first child in September of this year. She is due in early September, and somehow it seems fitting that my wife would be due on Labor day.
Aside from the fact that it was a complete and utter surprise, we are elated about the thought of becoming parents. It’s just one of those things that makes you feel more important the instant you discover it. For instance, today I was walking through Target and it hit me just how cool this really is. I was able to contribute to the populating of this earth, and suddenly I felt very important. I walked with a swagger and held my head high because in only 8 short months that would be my kid running down the isles knocking stuff off the rack onto the floor, and soon that would be me chasing after him or her screaming “Knock it off!” My how time flies. It seems like just yesterday I was doing those things. Well, I guess that was just yesterday, but that was at Wal-Mart, not Target.
I will leave you with this. When I was in elementary school I was involved in a program called “Talented And Gifted” and I can remember disticntly one day we were discussing the future. The teacher asked us all to write down our thoughts on certain questions she had pertaining to the future. One of those questions was, “What do you fear most about the future?” We all took turns presenting our answers to the class, and when it came to a fellow classmate of mine who sat across from me he simply answered, “Joel Young’s kids!”
To be quite frank, that has been my greatest fear as well, but I think I’m finally ready to face my fear. Because let’s face it, at this point, I don’t really have much of a choice!