The look of love

Most mornings when I say my goodbyes for the day all I get is a moment of eye contact and a smile, then my son goes back to exploring. The routine goes like this. I walk over to where he is playing and kneel down to go through my check list. I tell him to have a good day, have lots of fun, take his naps, and eat all of his food. Once the instructions have been doled out I always end with "Daddy loves Joshua". Monday was different, somewhere in the middle of the instructions he put down his toys and looked up directly into my eyes. Our eyes locked and he wouldn't let me go. The world could have been coming to an end and he would still have been transfixed on my face. He was hanging on my every word.

A flood of emotion came over me. In that moment the sense of responsibility was ominous. It was truly a humbling experience. I couldn't stop telling him how much I loved him. That look of innocence and devotion pure is motivation! I gave him a kiss, them my wife and ran out the door. In addition to a renewed sense of obligation to my family, a one year old was about to bring a grown man to tears just by the look in his eyes.