“Daddy you were suppose to use a cup of milk.”

Standing in the kitchen a few days into single fatherhood, a little over 14 years ago, These words echoed, "Daddy you were suppose to use a cup of milk." After rereading the directions on the back of the hamburger helper box, she was right. My cooking experience was VERY limited at that time and since she was only 9 years old hers was too. That night, supper turned out pretty good. A few days later, my first experience of cooking spaghetti didn't turn out so good. This time she was doing home work and I am cooking alone. After the hamburger fully cooked, I mixed the cooked hamburger together with the spaghetti; I forgot to drain the grease from the cooked hamburger! You can imagine what a mess that was. At that point, I think it dawned on her that she better learn to cook or we are all going to starve. From that day forward, at 9 years old she became the little lady of the house. She laid down the ground rules for the kitchen. Her attitude was "you may be the daddy, but this is my kitchen."

Celeste Marie Warren…. today is her birthday she is 25 years old today. She has grown up to be very confident and I think she "likes herself." When she was little she would come home from school and announce her own arrivals by saying, "Celeste is home!" (True to her "liking herself" today on her Facebook she wishes herself a happy birthday.) At an early age she also learned how to stand her ground. When conflicts would occur with her two brothers and it appeared that she was losing the battle, she would cry…. and would eventually win the "war" because she knew daddy would come to her rescue. She also became "Ms. Independent" at an early age and to this day she will go and get what she wants despite the odds.

Happy Birthday Celeste! You have brought me so much joy and happiness. I am so proud to be your dad. You make my day, my week, my month, my year, and my life. I pray for the blessing of our Lord over your life that will make rich and add no sorrows. I pray all your dreams come true; a husband that will love you, many babies to follow, health and long life, wealth and prosperity, peace and happiness, joy unspeakable, and full of HIS glory. And finally, yes finally, I pray that I have lived the kind of life before you, and as you put the last flower over my grave, in your grief you can proudly say these words out loud, "Well done Daddy well done. You are a Father Forever and I will see you again on the other side."

I love you so much!

Dad

There Goes My Baby

7lbs 6 inches long, a bouncing baby boy, born March 7, 1981.

Trembling, as I first held his tiny little body in my arms. My baby, my first born, my heart was pounding and my mind was racing. A sea of emotions flooded my being.
I experienced fear, yet excitement, joy, yet uncertainty, pride, yet an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy. What was I going to do with this tiny little fellow? My baby, my first born.

There goes my baby… 29 years old today, March 7, 2010. Of course, he is not a baby anymore and neither is he little. In fact he is big; big bones, big muscles and a little bit of FAT. He has grown up to be an honorable, respectable young man and a father. In February, 2010 he received his Barber’s License. I’ve watched him grow, experiencing some success and even failures; I must say, I am proud to be his dad.

In our journey as parents, we all have thought or said to ourselves, or even out loud, “There goes my baby.” As we watch them enter into kindergarten, elementary, middle school, high school, maybe college, or their first apartment or when they are walking down the church aisle with their eyes dancing looking at their mate, we’re thinking, “There goes my baby.”

So how do we let them go? How do we say, with confidence “There goes my baby,” wanting everything to be ok. We allow them to live their lives, as we guide them from the side line. When they fall, we “throw out a life line” and allow them to pull themselves back into the boat. We pray for their protection, as we warn them of the pit falls and how to avoid them. We can provide some insight from our own hindsight. We encourage them to step out into new things without demanding that they do it our way. And then finally, we spoil the grandkids. And the cycle continues, “There goes my baby.”

I hope I have given you as much Joy as a father in these last 29 years, as you have given me as a son.

Happy Birthday Glenwood Lee Warren II, I love you with all of my heart!!


“There Goes My Baby.”

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