One of the good guys...

I was sitting across the pew from this guy - see above picture - at church on Sunday, and had a startling realization: we had become one of those families.  You know the kind I am talking about. Snot-nosed kids (we literally went through three packages of tissues), "quiet activities" strewn across the bench and most of the floor, in and out of the service at least three times for the potty, drinking fountain, and simply so the poor (quiet) family in front of us could pay attention.  This guy and I were sitting so far apart, separated by so much.  Then another startling realization: this is totally our lives right now.  It is all about those snot-nosed beautiful, smart, healthy daughters of ours.  I felt the sadness creeping in.  I felt my eyes start to water. It made me miss him. I wanted to send the girls to another pew and scootch in right next to him and feel him right next to me.  But I didn't. Instead, I watched him in awe as he juggled both girls at the same time, helping the eldest draw a picture and the littlest eat some goldfish. Then the tears did come, but they were tears of gratitude. How did he learn to be such a good father? How did I get so lucky to have someone like him in my life as my partner and best friend?  Does he know how much I love him? Gosh, I hope so.