Reflections of...FAMILY!

            "A beautiful family of four--Circle of Life!"

        Reflections Of… Family!

                                                  by Alan P. Scaglione

See that picture?

That’s my baby!
No, not the little boy on the right—that’s JettJett!
And no…not the big basketball underneath Kim’s shirt—that’s Cali Harper—just waiting to make her appearance in early March!
So who’s my baby?
The one in the top left—that MY BOY!
My baby Boy!
He turns 28 on Thursday—Happy Birthday Son!
He’s all grown up now—happily married to Kim, father of the greatest JettJett and the soon to be greatest Cali!
Owner of a brand new 4 bedroom, 2 car garage, 3000 square foot home where he and Kim raise their beautiful family!
He’s a family man, a business man—an all grown up man!
That’s what you see, right?
But when I look at that picture—I still see the little boy who called it “HambubbaKing!”
And I still see the little boy who had his mom call me at work and say “Poppy, I cried for you—come home and play!”
And I did!
And I see the 5^th grader who wanted to play basketball but didn’t realize it was full court, so…
Being my son… he would just stand in the middle of the court and wait for the rest of the team to work their back toward him!
Oh how I miss that little boy!
My biggest fear was “Cat’s In The Cradle!”
Anybody remember that song?
“Cat’s in the cradle with the silver spoon, little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you coming home Dad, I don’t know when, but we’ll get together soon son, I know we’ll have a good time soon!”
This haunted me—and I set in my heart the goal to NOT be Cat’s in the Cradle DAD!
I went to every basketball game—never ONCE voicing how much I HATE basketball! Football-love! Hockey-love! Basketball? HATE!
But I went, and I cheered for my chubby 5^th grader who metamorphosed into the lean mean Basketball Captain of the team!
All because—I was going to be there for my son!
My father and I—well, he was as quiet as I am NOT quiet—and he just didn’t do a whole of hands on parenting.
So… I knew the kind of father I always wanted—and I determined to be THAT Dad!
Always encouraging, always supportive, always present!
I never missed a thing!
In fact—for his 21^st birthday—I drove up to his college in Tennessee JUST to take him and his friends out!
UMM—that was the year he said “Pops, I love ya, but… this is the LAST year for this!” and, sadly for me—it was!
He got a lovely wife—and he honored me in a way only a minister can relate to—
He asked me to officiate their wedding!
One of the BEST days of my life!
And to see him with His son…and there’s a picture of the 3 of us—he and I are swinging Jett—“Father and Son, Father and Son!”
And I think of how the scriptures tell us:
“For this cause, a man shall leave his father and a woman leave her home… they shall become as one!” Matthew 19:5
It’s the circle of life!
And they get to be the proud father, the worried father, the “hope he gets just how much I love him” father…
It’s his turn now…
I stand on the sidelines, cheering him on…
Hoping for a phone call…
My boy was just like me… He’d grown up Just Like Me!
Guess only time will tell!
I always said “I was the father I always wanted—just hope I’m the father you needed!”
And now… he will get to know!
The sheer joy of watching your son become father!

Sharing my Reflections--

Brother “A”