All of a sudden, it hits me.

In one fell swoop, a truth of life that everyone must come to grips with hits me square between the eyes. I realized the most horrifying, dreadful, ominous fact I have ever faced.

I am old.

It is probably just a coincidence that the last visit I’ll ever have in my old hometown was the same weekend that I became 27. But the irony of the two events has opened my eyes wide to the truth that I cannot ignore.

I am an adult that can never go back to being a kid again.

Most people get this revelation when they get married. I didn’t. My wife is so much fun to be with, I still think we’re dating.

Most people become aware of their age when they enter “the real world” after school. It took me till age 25 to finally finish my education. So maybe my brain thought I was 21 (like most people are when they finish school).

So, it was probably good that my 27th birthday came on the last weekend that my parents would spend in the city they lived in for almost 30 years. Sometimes it takes more than one cataclysmic event to convince you of something you didn’t want to admit.

I don’t think that I am immature or childlike. I don’t waste money. I don’t live dangerously. I make mature decisions for my family and myself. But I never had something come so clearly, in such a way that I just can’t overlook.

For instance, this weekend I saw a grown man. He worked hard all day because there was work to be done. He could have propped his feet up and watched football all Saturday, but he worked. He packed boxes. He cleaned tools. He disassembled appliances. He did what was needed.

I am ashamed to say that I was not that man. But I’m proud to say that that man was my dad. Many people in the world aren’t blessed to know who their father is. Of those who know their father, few would have a better example than I have had. He is a true example of how to be a grown man.

While I helped him with some of his work on Saturday, he encouraged me to be a big helper to my wife, who somehow juggles Pharmacy school and 20 hours of work a week. He suggested cooking supper, cleaning, washing dishes, washing clothes, and cleaning bathrooms. In essence, he was saying, “Help her anyway that you can.”

His words worked. Yesterday, I went grocery shopping. This morning, I woke up 30 minutes earlier than normal without an alarm clock. I peeled potatoes, and started a roast in the crockpot. I’m not sure what I’ll do tomorrow, but I hope that I can find something to do every day to help ease the burden on my wife.

Just to be clear, I am not saying any of this to “toot my own horn”. Just to prove the point that a father’s example and encouragement can produce once unheard of results.
So, this 27 year-old man is making strides to be a man. The kind of man that makes his wife feel like a queen. The kind of man that works hard at what he does. The kind of man that my kids will need to see in their daddy. The kind of man that God expects me to be.