"I Want Daddy!"

The Mister was out of town this week on business, and the night before he left I found Josh setting the alarm on his DS for 6:30 a.m. I asked why he was doing this and he replied, "Because I want to say goodbye to dad before he leaves to Billings."

7:00 a.m. came and Josh had slept through his alarm. I mentioned this to the Mister and he wrote Josh a love note and put it on his bed before leaving.

Josh woke up crying because he had missed saying goodbye, so we called Mr. on his cell. This helped some, but Josh was still sobbing. (I can't remember the last time my 10-year old cried. Is this good or bad?) He gingerly folded the love note and put it in his shirt pocket over his heart. He said he felt like there was "a hole in my heart, and this would keep it warm."

The Mister left last week for business as well, but Josh didn't seem too affected by it. I wish I understood why he was so needy this week, but life goes on.

I recently read a wonderful novel about the importance of fathers in the lives of their children. Josh's feelings and behavior reminded me of a book I recently read. Charles Martin says,

"Having been born one, and now trusted with three, I know this about boys: we are all born with a dad-sized hole drilled in the center of our chest. Our dad's either fill it up with themselves, or as we grow into men and start to sense the emptiness, we medicate it with stuff. Usually addictions." (Chasing Fireflies)

I think this is so very true. And not only is it true for boys, but it is especially true for daughters as well.