Tuesdays with Torrey
This may not be what you are used to seeing from me on Tuesdays with Torrey but I just wanted to give everyone a glimpse of what makes me happy.
Fatherhood is a gift that will warm the hearts of even the toughest men. I’m a 6’4″ 300-pound man that has been losing tug of wars and wrestling battles to my kids for 11 years.
Boy do I love being a dad. From the moment I wake up until the moment I lay down to go to bed I enjoy it. Fatherhood is something that cannot be understood until you become one.
I remember the first time I met my son.
He was barely walking, his mom (my now wife) brought him to my city league basketball game. After the game, we walked out of the gym and I picked him up. then I put him on my back and gave him a piggy back ride. Once we got to the car, I put him up on the trunk and tied his shoes. He gave me the biggest smile and my heart melted right then and there. Since then he’s been my right-hand man. Yes, we bump heads often, but I wouldn’t trade him for anything.
The first time I met my daughter was right after she was born. Being in the room during child birth is amazing. After they cleaned her up and she was held by my beautiful wife, they passed her to me. She just melted into my arms, I melted like butter, and we watched basketball for an hour. Watching her grow and develop has been such a treat.
What’s even more enjoyable is to watch or listen to them interact. He runs around and pretends like she is faster than him, and she runs as hard as she can to catch him. Yes, he’s into electronics and video games like every other teenage boy but every once in a while, he’ll play with her to make her happy. And she absolutely adores him. When he teaches her anything she is focused and soaks it up like a sponge.
Watching these kids grow up is what makes it all worth it. I get up every day and usually leave the house before anyone else wakes to get to work. But every evening when I walk into the house, my daughter gives me a reception as if she hasn’t seen me in years. When I help my son with his homework and he finally “gets it” I can see the moment when the light bulb goes off. That is a gift in itself.
So yes, this is different from my other columns but this gives you some insight into what fatherhood has given me.
Torrey Brown is a loving husband, father, and son, and also an outspoken champion for the black cause and all social injustices.
Any views or opinions expressed in “Tuesdays with Torrey” are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Watershed Voice staff or its board of directors.
