I am blessed with two of the most amazing sons a father could ask for. One is local and I see him almost daily. He and his family are such blessings to my wife and I. They have made us Grandparents to a delightful grandson and fill our lives with the joy and closeness of family.
My other son is away this Christmas. He has landed his dream job in a city twenty-four hours from home. We get to talk often and he asks for advice as he carves out a life away from home. “How do I fix this, Dad?” “How should I deal with this, Dad?” How did you do that, Dad?” Hours of conversation, listening, laughing, more listening, talking, still more listening, have created an unbreakable bond. It’s one I share with my other son, too, but it’s so much different right now because, my son is away.
He is away to make his life, to start a career, to find himself. Away, all alone in a place that I cannot visit at the drop of a hat, that I can only remember when I was away, alone, and looking for my place in the world. He is proud, excited, full of new found knowledge, unsure of himself and confident at the same time. We are so close, so far apart, so happy, so sad, so different and so alike.
I am transported back to the same time in my first son’s life when he was away, alone and growing into the amazing man he is today.
Christmas is a wonderful time, full of fun, family and friends. This Christmas will be tough for one of my sons because my son away. But I know he will flourish, grow, share and he will be a blessing to everyone he comes in contact with, because he, like his brother, is very special and so full of Love, Peace and Joy. I know because, they are my sons and even when they are not here, they are never too far away from God.
