The Hueston Life Chronicles is a blog written by my friend that presents a witty, intelligent, and introspective view of not only pop-culture topics, but also things that come up in his daily life. Of his many posts, the most memorable and powerful for me was the one he wrote in anticipation of the birth of his son. The love for his unborn son he showed in his post mixed with the nervousness of being a good father and looking forward to spending time with him has had a lasting impact on me since the day he wrote it.
While in Dayton, Ohio a couple of weeks ago we did a photoshoot with the Huestons, their son, and the godparents of their son. You could not ask for a better morning at Cox Arboretum, which was the site of where the Huestons were married four years beforehand. As we laughed, joked, and took pictures, I could not help but refer back to his his blogpost. I can only hope that when it is my time to be a father that I will follow the path of my friend…a loving, caring, and strong leader of his family.
"Took me 26 years to find my path
My only job is cut the time in half
So at 13 we’ll have our first drink together
Black bar mitzvahs, mazel tov, mogul talk
Look a man dead in his eyes so he know you talk truth
When you speak it, give your word, keep it
And if the day comes I only see him on the weekend
I just pray we was in love on the night that we conceived him
Promise to never leave him even if his mama tweakin’
Cause my dad left me and I promise never repeat him
Never repeat him, never repeat him" - Jay Z "A New Day"
It's a new life for me...and my wife as *we bring our son into the world. When we found out we were "expecting" nothing was the same. Every step along this journey into parenthood has been earth shattering...
- Hearing the heartbeat was like hearing sound for the very first time
- Our first scare was like dying a slow agonizing death
- Feeling our baby move was insanity (How is this possible? I can't believe this!)
- The ultrasound where we saw the face of our son was seeing color for the first time
At the age of 28 I am a first time father and truly crossing into the wild unknown; its frightening, exciting and represents the biggest challenge I have ever faced and we are still months away from my son's arrival.
I was inspired by the Jay-Z verse above because it encapsulates everything that is "fatherhood" in my estimation. From my perspective I owe it to my son to teach him what it means to be a man no matter what and I can't wait.
Timothy Hueston, I love you more than I could've ever imagined. I am going to play with you, yell at you, teach you, learn from you, care for you, worry about you, embarrass you, raise you as a **Knicks fan and be there for all of your firsts because I'm your dad.
*
Mostly her
**Please don't call child services on me
