That about sums it up...

"Whenever people ask me about having children or not having children, I never tell them what to do. I simply say, 'There is no experience like having children.' That's all. There is no substitute for it. You cannot do it with a friend. You cannot do it with a lover. If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children"

~Morrie Schwartz

So I have been reading Tuesdays with Morrie again and last week I read this. I haven't read this book since I had Addison. I think I can safely say that this is the truest statement that I have ever heard. I'm sure when I read this book in Teacher Cadet that I read that line and didn't even think anything of it.

There is no experience like having children. It makes you experience love in the deepest way. A way that you would have never dreamed of. It makes you understand the word unconditional.

Unconditional: not limited by conditions; absolute. (www.dictionary.com)

Absolute. Someone that is in every way a part of you. Absolute. Someone that no matter what, you will love them. And that love grows.

Children make you appreciate your parents and understand them on a whole new level. You understand why they worried about you. You understand why they tried to protect you. And in your children, you see that many of the things you do for your kids your parents did for you. Love. It has such a bold new meaning to a parent.

So my new point it this: I will always tell people that there is no experience like having children. I will not tell them to wait. I will not say do it or don't.

"There is no experience like having children."

I have always put my priorities in material things. Cars, games, clothing, electronics...etc. I have found myself in my children. They have filled the hole in my life that other things couldn't. My life is complete with them. I can only pray that they will have the joy to experience what I have through them. And that one day they will be able to read this and understand how I feel.

To Addison & Huxley: You are the loves of my life. You make me the proudest man in the world. I hope that you will always understand that Daddy loves you and that love will never end. Absolute. I love you both. ~Daddy

PEACE!

~James