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| My three daughters, from a photo taken just five years ago. |
Life is a series of chapters, each with their own beginnings and endings. Some are punctuated by dramatic events, others come and go with little fanfare. Sometimes we don't even realize we were living through those episodes until long after they are gone.
A little over eighteen years ago, my life began one such chapter when my first daughter came into this world. Two more daughters have followed her since, and for the succeeding decades, being Dad to those three girls has become the greatest privilege of my life.
The little moments which make up and highlight a life are oftentimes things which we never anticipated when they happened. Coming home from work, to have my infant daughter fall asleep while watching TV on my chest. The bedtime book which I read over and over because it was her favorite (and each of my daughters would develop their own favorite). Asking her about her first days at elementary school, when she would push two chairs together to take a nap in class because she was tired (and the teacher was boring). Watching her interests grow and evolve over time.
Each page of this chapter in my life has been new and amazing in its own right. Riding horses. Falling in love with her dog. Being the peacemaker between her sisters. Sharing books with her that I had grown up loving. And learning about which books and topics which had captured her imagination. Graduating from watching Barney, to Disney, to Japanese anime. Every page was new, and exciting and treasured.
My oldest daughter will be entering university this fall. My middle daughter will follow her a year later. My youngest is a few years behind. I can see this chapter in my life coming to its end. I can't deny I'm sorry to see it go.
It is of course, unavoidable. I know they will all go on to live lives of their own, and experience their own chapters in life. But I know that the greatest chapter of my life, was during these few years.
Which is why I chose to write the books which I write today. The fantasy novels for which my daughters have become my beta-readers, are one last adventure we can share, one last paragraph before the final page turns and this chapter in our lives has ended. It's why I have devoted so many spare moments into writing these novels - before this chapter concludes and the next chapter opens, both in their lives and in mine. One last opportunity, to enjoy all that we have shared together these many years. I can only hope that last paragraph will be a good one.
