The morning of Friday, August 10th began ordinary, just as any other morning had for the past few years: I woke up, showered, brushed my teeth, fed my 2 cats, and went in to work. About mid-morning, however, that fateful day would become anything but ordinary.
It was about 10 o'clock when I was stocking the cooler of the convenience store that I work at when I got a phone call from my wife, Carly. Most of the time, quite honestly, she calls me about really, really stupid stuff; usually its something to the effect of "Hey babe, what do you want for dinner? Do you want me to pull some ground meat out of the freezer or something?." I was pretty hardcore into making sure all of the 2% gallons of milk were filled to their capacity at the time of the call so I was getting ready to retort with one of the usual lines like, "I don't care, whatever you want, babe."
Within only a few short still frames of life I found out that my life would forever be changed. The reason she called me didn't have anything to do with dinner. The reason she called was to inform me that she WAS PREGNANT!!! There are not enough exclamation points in the universe that would properly exhibit the excitement level in her voice as the two simple words, "I'm pregnant," flowed from her mouth and into my ears. After taking a moment or two to realize that she wasn't calling about dinner arrangements I replied very profoundly with two equally simple words: "oh, okay."
The earth was now spinning rapidly, my legs tingling, my breath short. I, for a brief moment, thought I was going to pass out. I told her that we would discuss this "great" news when I got home from work. I, quite honestly, had no idea how to react to this. Her reaction was of pure joy and jubilation and I knew that she was hoping to hear something near that level from me. However, the primary thought that captured my mind was "am I ready for this, are we ready for this?"
After gaining some resemblance of composure, I was able to successfully finish stocking the milk and continue on to finish the work day all the while contemplating the implications of what me becoming a father and my wife becoming a mother would have on our lives and whether or not we are ready for the challenge.
To this very moment I still have no clue what these implications are. This post is the first in what I hope will be a lengthy series attempting to give you, the reader, an inside perspective of where the road to and through fatherhood leads me and what the implications thereof become.
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