The strong, silent type

Fathers.

You are enough.

Your mind is full of your shortcomings, might-have-beens, and obligations.

But you are enough.

You spend lifetimes quietly punishing yourselves for what you should have done better. You think no one notices.

Look in the eyes of your sons and daughters, THAT is unconditional love.

We admire you. We know what you’ve done for us.

You warned us about fire and we got burned anyway.

You worried about whether we would decide to graduate high school or go down the wrong path, or just find a way to be happy in this world.

We made my own choices about all of those things, but still –

You are enough.

Mothers worry about other things.

But the world mostly never knows about your self-questioning.

Do I earn enough? Why can’t the doctors fix this? What if she grows up blaming me?

Men are a different breed all their own. Most will never really know one.

If you’re lucky, you might someday catch a glimpse of the burden he carries for you.

Or maybe not. That’s okay too. That’s the way he intended.

Forever the fixer, defender, and guardian – the job done best is the one finished quietly, without fanfare. Some of the hardest things he’s done for you, you will never know.

The greatest things I’ve ever learned were given to me by my father – most without his saying a single word.

He didn’t have to.

He’s a father.