I woke up a week or so ago to some thunder and lightning. It was off in the distance, but you could tell that something was coming.
I rolled over and hit the snooze button. There was no way I could handle this one by jumping right out of bed. I needed to sleep on it with about 10 more minutes of sleep.
I mean, what can prepare you for that first day of junior high better than a few extra minutes of sleep?
Directly in my rear-view mirror was the innocence, and free-spirited days of my youth. Those long days at the swimming pool with no worries. I was taking a right turn off of Easy Street and heading onto the first divided highway of my life.
Then, just a couple of days later, there I was, hearing that alarm again. This time, I was knee deep in my senior year of high school, having the time of my life. I couldn’t wait to get out of bed. There’s no way life could get any better than this. Carefree days with my best friends. We were seniors. We ruled the school, like all seniors, right? It was perfect.
The next morning the sun was shining bright. It was warm, but not one of those sweltering mornings that make you wanna turn right around and stay inside all day. It was a perfect spring morning.
And there I was, cap in hand, with a black graduation gown draped over my right arm. I was just a couple of hours from college graduation. Those carefree days seemed so long ago. I was an adult. I was ready to tackle anything the world had to offer. Bring it on.
Less than a week ago, I woke to an overcast sky and a slight mist. Nothing too bad, just enough to notice. It just kept raining. And just when you thought it would stop, it would pick up just a little bit. It seemed like it had been raining for days. Nothing ever changed. I was on my way to work, but nothing could spoil my day. I was about to cover the football state championship game — again. Who wouldn’t love this job? I was being paid to watch sports and then write about it. Awesome.
A few days later, I woke up with one of the most calming, but weird, feelings I’ve ever had. In a few hours I was going to be married. Married. It was surreal. The most beautiful woman in the world was about to say “I do.” She was going to be my wife. What an amazing feeling. I had it all.
So many brilliant, amazing moments in my life seemed to fly by in a blink of an eye. I go to bed one night and seem to wake up years later.
Then, I woke up yesterday. Suddenly. Abruptly. A light came on and Aisha shook me awake. “It’s time.”
The next few minutes or so were a blur. We loaded the car and were off to the hospital. Yep. That time.
Everything was getting very real. My wife was about to deliver our first child. The hours drifted away slowly and sometimes painfully. Then, in the middle of the afternoon, that gorgeous woman gave birth to the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen. He was perfect. All of a sudden, everything I had ever experienced in my life seemed trivial. As my sons life began so did mine, so did Aisha’s. We stopped being husband and wife and became a family.
The flood of emotions that washed over me when I first laid eyes on Gunner James was overwhelming. Too overwhelming for words.
Yesterday, I woke up as a man and went to sleep as a father.
Now, I never want to go to sleep again. I don’t want to miss a second of this.
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