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The Perfect Family

What is the That, Really?

By Shel Franco

From the moment we left the hospital, observers complimented our beautiful family. Many assumed that the baby was a girl. A few asked. When I admitted he was indeed a boy, knowing looks crossed their faces. "Maybe you'll get a girl next time," they would say. I started to realize that I wasn't the only one who thought the perfect family equaled a mom, a dad, a son and a daughter.

When my youngest son was a few months old, I chatted with my friend Jackie, the mother of two boys. I asked if she thought her life and her family were less than whole because she never had a daughter.

"Are you nuts?" she said. "I don't have time for 'what ifs.' I'm too busy with the boys."

Her words struck a chord. If I worried about what I didn't have, I'd never enjoy what was right in front of me.

These days, girls seldom run through my thoughts. Instead of waiting for a daughter to build a special connection with, I build that connection with my sons. Joy fills my heart when I hear my oldest profess, "You hafta practice, Dad. Pitch it like Mom." So, the game didn't go the way I'd planned. Still, life is too short to shuffle away from the plate just to sit in the bull pen. I can see it in my sons' eyes. As long as I stay in the game, we all walk away winners