Ode to Dada

As Tyler hasn't yet learned to talk (at least in any recognizable language) the best way to get a sense of what he thinks and feels are to look at his actions. When it comes to his Dada the signs are unmistakable. I watch how after every dinner he waits patiently by the window for your car to drive down the street. When he spots you he excitedly points and exclaims "Dada!" until you've pulled into the garage whereupon he bolts to the back door to greet you. I observe him during the day reacting to a noise heard in the house. He automatically thinks it's you, often stopping to look for Dada as if you've been hiding upstairs all day just waiting to surprise him. I watch how he calls your name and waves at the back door long after you've driven away for work. I see how he looks to you for approval for even the tiniest thing like clapping at a putt while watching a game of golf with you. "Was that right, Dada?", he looks back to check. When you smile and clap with him the beam of his grin is blinding. I watch how he looks to you for the right way to throw a ball, hold a golf club, eat food, wash a car and even, Lord help him, dance. And as I watch him following after you, literally in your footsteps, I think of the kind of husband, friend, father and son you are and I want to tell him, "Tyler, pay attention!" There is no man on this earth better for Tyler to emulate than his Dada.