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Dear Husband,
To know that our son has turned one-year-old is one of the most beautiful feelings in the world. On his first birthday, you have one more reason to raise that toast for being one of the best fathers ever.
You have no idea how you set the standards for dads around you. Your kindness, your gestures, and your very disposition could never skip my observation. Every time you were in proximity to our son or when your eyes roved over him from the other end of the room – I have watched and counted every one of those awestruck and twinkle-eyed stares of yours, how could I ever miss those signs? Every moment has been a milestone of sorts.
Thinking of the day when you became a father for the first time, it had amazed me to see you welcome your son so lovingly. It was the first instance of seeing the fatherly affections in you. All my life I had known you as a caring husband, but I was touched to see the gentleness in holding your son, the non-stop cooing to him, and the everlasting concern you showed on the first day at the hospital still prevails. The bond has only grown through our son coming into the world.
I can’t forget that day when the doctor said that our baby was on the way and how I had begun to tremble with fear, anxiety, emotion and the incredible moment that was soon to be a reality. You were the pillar of strength when I was going to go through the most painful experience that a mother must go through. Your very presence has given me the audacity on various occasions. The times when as an inexperienced mother, I had no clue to how to calm our baby, your innovative ways came to my rescue. When it was time for me to recuperate, you didn’t mind swapping the roles and allowed me to catch up on my sleep while you stayed up watching over, well, the two of us; our little angel, and your better half wondering at her strength, least realizing that you were her backbone.
You didn’t mind changing baby diapers and cleaning the mess without feeling grossed. You didn’t mind sitting through the lactation consulting sessions, keeping up with the lengthy sittings, the hackneyed talks, the repetitive questions for confirmation, and towards the end of every tiring doctor check-ups, you never expressed vexation of any sort.
You volunteered in the kitchen for my untimely urges to snack, you didn’t mind driving miles to fetch my favorite takeaways – and this was amidst the times when I was not in the shape to cook much and delayed your meals. You didn’t mind taking over the chores allowing me my time to nurse, my time to take it easy with any baby blues, my time to bond with our son.
You were the ray of hope anytime; I had a blow from the little flu our son would contract or when I came up with the paranoid and bizarre verdicts on just about anything. You taught me to take pride in the bodily changes that the glow of motherhood brought in me.
You have shown the degree of fortitude I had no idea about. In watching the father in you, I discovered the many hidden talents that were either latent, or you never displayed before, or perhaps the time simply hadn’t arrived. In taking time off and going out on important appointments, I always knew that our son was in the safest hands and that no one could babysit like you did.
I have been astonished at your capabilities, the common sense that I could not acknowledge as a wife, but can now very well reckon as a mother. I appreciate the great things you have done to keep up the traditions when needed, break the norms when you were supposed to, take your standing when appropriate and to invent the traditions in the best interest of our son.
In our son, I see your reflection. Going forward I would want him to take after you not only in the facial or physical sense but in the very disposition and the attitudes that make up the man you are. Our family has grown by one thus far, and you are the very fulcrum that holds the points together.
I cannot believe that one year has gone by already. But it’s never too late to tell you how much I have begun to admire you ever since we brought our son home. Now that he has grown from an infant to a toddler and as the time ticks away, I bet you will be just as awesome tomorrow as you always are.
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