Hockey, Family and Memories

04.10.2010

We went to a hockey game today which was incredibly fun. The first, and last, time I went to a hockey game was back in 1998 with my sister. We had such a blast! At that time, I had recently come back from living for a few months in Toronto and I made sure to catch a rare game of the Kings vs. the Maple Leafs. Man, that game was awesome.

Today, in the row ahead of us was a youngish guy who brought his son to the game (could’ve been an uncle too) and I observed the two of them for as long as I could without getting noticed and without making it look creepy. By the 3^rd quarter of the game, the little boy was sitting on his dad’s lap calling out little things to the guys on the rink which was making us all laugh and giggle at how cute he was.

Watching the two of them made my heart go out to this guy who was cradling his child on his lap. In my mind, I had flash forwards of Rob sitting with our child, or taking our kid to a game, especially when the Phillie Eagles were playing, and it warmed my heart.

But there was a part of me that was a little sad too and it reminded me of the time when I used to nanny these two kids as an undergrad. I would take the kids to the park and there always was this older dad with his daughter, holding her, playing with her, pushing her on the swings… You could see the love in his eyes for this little girl…and I don’t know what the story was. Maybe he had always wanted to have kids but wasn’t lucky and only later in life was able to have one. Or maybe he had grown kids that he neglected because of work or whatever and now he had this second chance. Regardless of the story, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy of this 1 or 2-year old little girl. I will never know what it feels like to grab my father’s fingers or hand when I’m scared or just because. It was at that time, back in 1996-97 that I made a promise to myself and to any future children that I would make sure that he/she/they would know what holding their father’s hand felt like. And I’m lucky to have married a man who feels the same way.