The Role of a Lifetime

My favorite part of the day is taking my two oldest sons to school. It’s a ten-minute task that gives me a little one-on-one son time.  It’s full of music, laughs and conversation. I ask them about their upcoming day and I try to find out about their hopes and dreams.

I’ve watched them grow up in the mirror. Their little faces going from fat cherubs to slim young men.  This is the last year I’ll have both in one car.  And that makes me kind of sad.

This morning, I had music playing and they sat quietly in the back, looking out for the deer that we normally see outside of our neighborhood.  I reached over and turned off the radio and said, “I’m really proud of you two.  I brag on you to other people all the time and just wanted you to know it.” I then added, “And I expect great things from you.” I then mentioned all the cool successes that their aunts and uncles had achieved. I mentioned their Cousin Dave and how he succeeded by helping other people. “I know you can do it, too.  You’re Hurley Ramseys.  You come from good people.”

So I told my sons that they can be successful. I told my sons that I am proud of them. But words only take you half way. It’s up to me as a father to show them that they can succeed. To show them that I am proud of them.

The best thing about being a father is that it completely takes the focus off yourself. As the comedian Craig Ferguson said after his son was born, “I think when you become a parent you go from being a star in the movie of your own life to the supporting player in the movie of someone else’s.”

If that’s truly the case, then I want to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  Being a father is the role of a lifetime. I just proud to have landed it.