My wife and I are blessed with two wonderful daughters. We couldn’t be more proud of them. Both are over 21 and both are out of the house, leaving my wife and I in the demographic of “empty nesters.” So whenever the girls can stop by for a visit, it is a special time for us.
Amy, our oldest, lives in New York (Brooklyn to be exact) and works in Manhattan. She is “living the dream” for a young person who loves city life. It’s hard to understand where she got this city life attraction – she was raised in West St. Louis County and went to school in Peoria, Illinois (not very urban or edgy places).
My wife told me the other day that Amy had called. She is coming into town later in the month for a visit and wanted to know my work schedule. My first thought was, “what a good girl; she wants to know here daddy’s schedule so she can spend time with him.” I was overcome with a feeling of bliss — until I checked my voicemail.
Amy’s message on my voicemail was “Hi Dad, I wanted to know what your work schedule is while I’m in town … so I can borrow your car [to do fun things with my friends and not you].” (Commentary mine) Slam! Another instance of “it’s not about me.” She wasn’t interested in spending every available hour with her old man (oh, sure, she’ll let me take her to a movie and buy her dinner while she is in town). All she wanted was the keys to the car!
Your children grow up and you can be proud of them, but at the end of the day, they’re still your kids. (And I love them for it!)
Deacon Dan Donnelly 