Just a couple months ago, my grandson, Lincoln, entered the world.
Most grandparents will tell you it’s hard to describe what that feels like until it happens. There is the immediate joy, of course. The tiny fingers. The quiet moments of simply watching him sleep. Even the unmistakable smell of a newborn that somehow manages to transport you back in time and forward at the same moment.
Mostly, though, there is a renewed appreciation for beginnings.
When you look at a newborn, you see unlimited possibility. Every future seems available. Every path seems open. At the same time, you are reminded how fragile those possibilities are and how much care, attention and love are required to help them grow.
That tension feels familiar these days.
Like many people, I carry tremendous optimism about what life can offer. I see it in young people beginning careers, families starting new chapters and communities working together to solve difficult problems. But I also carry concern about the challenges that surround us. Climate change. Political division. A world that often feels more fractured than connected.
Holding both realities at the same time can be difficult. Yet watching Lincoln begin his journey has reminded me that optimism remains the choice worth making.
As Father’s Day approaches, I’ve found myself reflecting less on my own experience as a father and more on the opportunity to watch my son become one.
My wife and I tried to be all in as parents. Like most parents, we didn’t do everything perfectly, but we believed deeply in showing up, doing the work and putting our children at the center of our attention and effort. Today, I see that same commitment in Cameron and his wife, Avalon.
They are embracing the joys and responsibilities of parenthood with dedication, patience and a kind of unfiltered joy that is inspiring to witness. There are sleepless nights, new challenges and plenty of uncertainty. Yet there is also purpose.
Fatherhood has always been a crucible. It teaches patience. It teaches sacrifice. It teaches responsibility. Most of all, it teaches that some of life’s greatest rewards arrive slowly, shaped through thousands of small moments of care and consistency.
Watching my own son discover those lessons has become one of the greatest joys of my life.
There is something profoundly moving about seeing someone you helped raise step confidently into a role that once felt entirely new to you. It’s a new experience as a parent, one I couldn’t fully appreciate until now.
Parenthood may be the purest example of unconditional love most of us will ever experience. It asks a lot of us. It changes us. It reveals strengths we didn’t know we had and priorities we didn’t know we needed.
It also offers lessons that extend beyond family life.
The people we admire most, whether in our families, communities or workplaces, are often those who commit fully. They invest in others. They stay present when things become difficult. They understand that meaningful results rarely happen overnight. They are willing to play the long game.
Those lessons feel especially relevant to me today.
In fact, Lincoln’s arrival has given me another gift. It has further strengthened my commitment to staying healthy and active for the years ahead. I want to be there for the soccer games, school events, conversations and adventures that are still to come. I want to experience as much of his life as possible.
This weekend, I’ll travel to Austin to see Lincoln for the second time. Cameron and Avalon are there building their family, and I’ll have the privilege of bringing my 86-year-old mother to meet her great-grandson for the very first time.
Four generations together.
When I think about that moment, I’m reminded that life is ultimately a story of beginnings, endings and everything we pass along in between.
Lincoln won’t remember this visit. But I will.
And as Father’s Day arrives, I’m feeling grateful for the chance to witness another beginning, to celebrate the fathers who are embracing the role today and to appreciate the enduring power of family, hope and unconditional love.
To all the dads out there, Happy Father’s Day.
