Wednesday, September 03, 2008 Calinao: 'Til I Was A Daddy Too' By Nick Prill Calinao Free and Easy
AS I was manning the airwaves during my regular afternoon show over 99.9 dzWR Country FM last week, I felt teary-eyed and filled with mixed emotions as I was listening to the "DJ's choice".
The DJ's choice last week is one of the latest songs by country singer Tracy Lawrence, a single entitled: "Til I Was a Daddy, Too." As depicted by its title, the song relates the reality of becoming and being a father.
Simple as it is, the song is filled with so much emotion that "deep listeners", especially family-men, end-up in a "tear-jerking" experience.
While listening to the song, memories from my younger years (don't get me wrong...I am still young) flashed back in my mind; memories of times in my teen-years when I was such a rebellious son who literally misunderstood the means and loving intentions of my disciplinarian father.
Man!!! Those were the days when I undoubtedly gave my old man a lot of headaches. I never really realized that everything he wanted was for my own good. Unfortunately, I took his words and wisdom for granted back then; a mistake which I would pay for and regret years later.
To try to understand a father's happiness and pride when his son or daughter is born; the splendor of watching his child/children grow; the worries, frustrations, and heartaches as well as triumphs he goes through as a father may not be that difficult a task. On the other hand, true appreciation and realization of fatherhood is only attained when a son becomes a father himself.
And so the chorus of Tracy Lawrence's "Til I Was a Daddy Too:"
"From watching him learn how to crawl
To skinned up knees from skateboard falls
To praying he'd get through football alive
From hearing his first words spoken
The first time his heart got broken
And knowing soon he'll spread his wings and fly
I guess I didn't know what a Daddy goes thru
'Til I was a Daddy too"
Yes, it is rather easy to grasp the idea of fatherhood. However, the joys and challenges of being a father...from the first embrace, first smile, first words,...to the washing of diapers, sleepless nights while dancing the baby to slumber, early conversations, walks at the park, treks to school, the sharing of lessons in life, the exchange of ideas between father and offspring...and so forth...may only be realized when "one becomes a daddy too."
It is only then that a different kind of genuine love is realized; and so here are a few more lines from the country song "Til I was a Daddy Too:"
"Real love the kind that you can't understand
Until you hold it in your arms and touch it with your hands
Pure joy the kind that you can only find
When you live your life for them
And leave yourself behind
More and more I'm seeing life go by
Thru my Daddy's eyes"
No matter how we put it; it still boils down to one line:
"I guess I didn't know what a Daddy goes through
'Til I was a Daddy too..."
This piece is one that I wholeheartedly devote to all young, challenged, and loving fathers...Welcome to the club amigos!!!
