A Father's Dream

I watched as my son and his father walked together towards the soccer clubhouse this afternoon. A tall man and a little guy, each fulfilling a purpose for the other. As I watched Erwin walk I could imagine the dreams circling his mind...our little Jari was growing up, he could teach him all the tricks of the trade in the driveway next to our house, what would I have been if..., would he be the next JARI, would he manage to get that left foot trained? The first meeting for soccer sign-up was today. When I mentioned it to Erwin a few days ago, I told him I wanted him to take Jari. He made it home at 5:00 in the nick of time. Erwin loves soccer. He loved to play it as a kid, he loves to watch it as an adult. And he wonders what would have been if only he had stuck it out...he was, I take it, relatively good. He thinks he could have made it further in the sport. I felt a tiny bit of anticipation as I watched them walk together. This little boy fulfilling his father's dream at the ripe age of four. What will Jari be? Will he love the sport as his papa does? Will he spend hours kicking soccer balls against a wall? Will he live for new cleats and shin guards? An official Jersey his favorite birthday gift? All I know is that whatever it is that Jari does, whatever he becomes, whoever he turns out to be, he will be his Papa's dream come true. I saw that in the blink of an eye as I watched my husband and my son heading towards the soccer fields; that little guy that we created proud to have his papa by his side, that Papa seeing his "zoontje" in an all new light (the light of the stadium? Maybe....).