Father's Day

Bo's second birthday.

My husband has been a good dad for our one and only child.  That child is approaching Jack Benny's last birthday.  But I well remember that night in the delivery room in Presbyterian hospital.  No partners, spouses or husbands allowed in the delivery rooms in August of 1973.  No sonograms to determine the sex of the child prior to delivery.  Just a loud speaker over which I could announce to Gene that we had a son.

Gene was in an area I never saw somewhere outside the delivery room when he heard my announcement.  He turned to the friends, Joe & Mary, and my parents, Arleigh & Mary, who were all there waiting with him saying, "we have a boy"!  My mother later told me that Gene looked absolutely shocked at the news of a baby boy.  And a beautiful baby boy he was as he is a handsome man.

My Dad, Arleigh, with John Roger, 1975.

As soon as the baby was cleaned up and I was sewn up, ouch, I was wheeled into a recovery area with about 7 other mothers.  Our baby boy was in an isolated container next to my bed when Gene joined us to see the baby for the first time.  Bo, as we later nicknamed our son, was 3 weeks over due and his skin showed it.  He skin was red splotched with some blue areas on his face, maybe from forceps used in delivery.  Gene said he looked psychedelic but absolutely beautiful.  Instantly Gene became Dad.  He was and is deeply in love with this man child we produced.

Although yesterday was Father's Day, no plans were made to specifically celebrate yesterday for Gene.  We went to lunch after church, dropped in on an ailing friend and headed home for a little rest before heading to a baseball game.  We left for the game after I remembered to grab the tickets.  Whew, that was close almost forgot them.  I dumped the always present recycling items in our bins in the garage and off we went for the ballpark in the Jeep, sans windows and doors.  Pulled into the parking place, I reach for the tickets and panicked.  No envelope to be found.  Good grief, I put it in the recycling bin back at home.

For the record, it is 36 minutes round trip from the ball park to our home and back to the ball park parking garage.  That time does include digging through the box of recycling to find the elusive ticket envelope.  While all other recycling pieces lay parallel the bottom of the bin, that little envelope had slipped down the side of the bin.  Anyway, while we did miss out on a Freese bobble head, we did make it in time for free brats and all the fixing's.  And if you are ever in Springfield going to a game and lose your tickets, they will reprint them for you.  Oh, well, we really did not need the bobble head anyway.

Earlier in the day Gene received a text message from his son saying what a great dad he was and is.  Then two more texts came from our Bo's close friends.

2010 visit with John and friends with
Dad Gene in the background supervising.

Both were wishing Gene a good Father's Day.  Both noted what a great example of fatherhood he had been for their friend John, our Bo.  They see this example in the way John is such a good, caring father to his three sons.  That was probably one of the best gifts a dad could receive on Father's Day.

Grandpa/Dad Gene, John Roger & Grandsons, circa 2010