Tragic Sandwich

Meagan Francis of The Happiest Mom writes today about helping fathers become involved as parents.

I always knew that being an involved dad would be natural for Mr. Sandwich. It’s such an obvious extension of who he is and how we approach our relationship.

He, apparently, had more qualms. He says that when he found out that we were expecting a girl, he got a little nervous–he wasn’t sure what to do with a girl, whereas he felt that he did have some sense of how to be a father to a boy, having once been a boy himself.

Until the moment she was born. He saw her for the first time, and describes the suddenness of his reaction as “like being punched.” That was when, he says, “I learned what ‘love at first sight’ means.”

After they did the most immediate tests and measurements, we got a Golden Hour–an hour in which (aside from one nurse) we were alone in the room with our new daughter. I unwrapped her and held her against my skin, under a warm blanket. It was the most beautiful, astonishing thing I had ever felt. I could have stayed that way the whole hour.

But I knew that I wanted Mr. Sandwich to have that, too. So after a while, I said, “You have to do this.” He said, “What do I do?” I answered, “Take off your shirt, hold her, and put the blankets over both of you.” He said, “I don’t know how to hold her.” And I said, “Yes, you do.”

I was right. He did. The two of them snuggled for the rest of the hour while I looked at how beautiful they were together.

They’re still beautiful together. They always will be.