It's my first Father's Day and I have a 4-month old son

For those of you who have known me for any length of time (say 20 minutes), you know how much it means for me to write the above subject line.

Elisa claims, and she's probably right (in fact, we're teaching Max that she's always right) that on our first date I mentioned to her my desire to be a dad. Now, that wasn't a pick-up line. Most women would've taken it as a sign to find the first opportunity to end the date. Elisa didn't pull the rip cord on our evening. Instead, I think she understood how much someday being a dad meant to me. Between now and then, we've skipped a few steps along the way, and put the proverbial cart before the horse. Although, you can see from the hundreds of adorable pictures of Max posted here on the Grape that it has worked out pretty well for us.

And meeting Max four months ago today worked out better than I could have ever dreamed. I wish I could put down in words how happy he makes me. I'm sure any parent reading this can relate. Despite his fussy and uber-fussy moments, Max is the closest thing I've seen to perfection in my life.

Last Father's Day our V.P. of Human Resources passed out blue carnations to staff members who were dads. When she came into the Control Room, where I work, to hand them out, she looked around and verbally made note of each of the fathers. "Steve's a dad, Frank's a dad, Gregg's not a dad..." That hurt. I came home and told Elisa, who by now really knew how much I wanted to be a dad, what had occurred. She comforted me and told me someday it would happen. Who knew that at the time Elisa was already pregnant?

Now, one year later I will go to the game with my 4-month old son and a blue carnation. It will indeed be a happy Father's Day.