The idea to get a portrait taken occurred to me this morning. This is the second to last day we are together alone – forming our little daytime home world. The technical ‘lasts’ start stacking up as the baby readies herself to arrive.
Of course we are ecstatic about the baby – but I must acknowledge the special bond I have with my first child. She’s the one who taught me to be a big-D Dad.
Bee will always be my first child, and the four years that she made our family Three will always hold a special significance. She weathered the death of her unborn sibling with us last year, an event nearly as difficult as any other the members of our family have faced. The three of us clung to our love for each other while the world turned.
She taught us to see the holidays again, and to experience the other changing cycles in the natural world with brand new eyes and hearts. She taught about patience and concern, to a degree that people without dependants can never experience. She turned a gangly, self conscious, aging geek into a real life Super Hero whose choices affect the foundations of her life – her mind, and her body.
Her eyes made of her Mom and I mythical archetypes, that will shade her understanding of women and men and the love people build and maintain for one another. Starting through us, she learns kindness, reasoning, creativity, our place in nature, and a joy of learning. She learns to consider the flip side of how we treat others – by considering how we want to be treated ourselves (as taught in philosophies dating to 3000 years BCE).
I had a couple of pictures taken, to record our appearance as it is today. Before her baby sister arrives, and before she starts preschool (in about 3 weeks) – this is Me and My Bee.
She’s the only little girl in my world – and I love her so much.
Beautiful . . .
Congratulations on staying out of the Awkward Family Photos realm! Looks great!
Quit making me cry, you big jerk. I need to hold it together through this last day of work.
Beautiful!