The Week I Found Myself

This last week has been an amazing time, one of my favourite times of my life. As a young child I had lots of fun experiences, and always did tons of different things each day – skateboarding, snowboarding, biking, swimming, basketball, baseball, bowling, hide and seek, board games, whatever. There was never any shortage of fun times in my childhood.

And as a teenager I always had loads of fun.

I’d be out from the time I woke up until the time I’d go to bed, chasing girls, skateboarding, snowboarding, playing pool, partying all the time. I can’t think of too many sad days I had as a teenager.

Then came my 20’s when I moved across the country to B.C. Nothing but fun times all the time. Whenever I wasn’t at work, we’d be hanging out with so many awesome friends having tons of fun. I met so many people in this province and learned so much about myself through that decade. These were definitely “The good ol’ days”.

Then came 30, and some things did change. My body hurt a lot more. I stopped getting drunk, and really slowed down the party mentality which had ruled my lifestyle for so many years. I spent more time just hanging with my wife, Carrie, and being happy just relaxing. I work a lot more now but all for good reasons.

But throughout all of these good memories, there was always a piece of my life that wasn’t present, until 2 years ago.

When Kaelen was born, he made me so happy. I finally had a child of my own that I could look forward to teaching everything about life, and have fun with. But it takes time for a baby to be old enough to hang out.

This week was one of the best experiences of my life, and I have had some pretty amazing experiences. Kaelen is now 2 years old, and he’s at the stage of his life that I have been waiting for since he was born. He can run and jump, and loves to play. He can sing and dance, and loves to laugh. But mostly, he just loves being with his Mommy and Daddy, and that is so special to me. It was Christmas Holidays and Carrie and I both took the entire week off of working, which is very difficult for me to do. I always have so much work to do with my Cabinet Business that I don’t usually get more than 2 or 3 days off in a row. But this year it had to be done. Christmas only comes once a year, and Kaelen would only be 2 years old for Christmas once in his life. And to me Christmas isn’t about presents and Santa, although we do make that stuff happen. Christmas is about being with friends and family and sharing your love. It’s a time of year when you just put everything aside for those who are closest to you and spend the whole week together. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium, we went shopping, we had friends over for dinners and movies, we went to other friends’ houses to hang out, we went skateboarding as a family, and we sat around together and did nothing at times. It was great.

I learned that our 2 year old son is man enough to play alone in the house while his Mommy and Daddy get some extra hours of sleep in the morning. And he is smart enough not to misbehave at this time and to come wake us up if he needs anything. I learned that Kaelen learns everything you teach him so quick and explores beyond what he has been told. I learned that our child is the best thing that ever happened to us, to bring us together even closer as we watch him grow.

But most of all, I learned why I was put on this Earth – to be the best, friendliest, happiest, and coolest Father in the world.

After everything I have done in my life, this was the week I found myself, and I know now why I have to slow my life down to be there for my son, my only true blood relative.

This was the week I found myself, my passion, my meaning of life.

I can’t wait to experience the next 10 years with him, the most fun time in his life. And my whole goal in my life, is to make his the most fun he could ever have…