Fathering – Michael Morse

by Michael Morse, contributing writer

I was twenty-three when I met my daughters. They were five and seven years old. It was love at first sight for me, not quite sure what they thought. It took a few years but I became their dad, but never had them call me that, Michael did just fine. 

One day, one of Brittany’s friends asked her why she called me Michael and not dad. She thought for a moment, those dark brown eyes under her bangs deep in thought, then her face brightened, and she said, rather casually for something that has brought me to tears for nearly forty years, “because Dad and Michael mean the same thing.”

I asked Danielle to read my latest book before I sent it to the publisher. One of my favorite parts has to do with my pleasure at becoming first a friend, then a father, to the girls. She called me the other day, and told me she knew what my next book should be about.

“You have to write a book about how to be a good step-parent.”

I had always wondered, and thought how I could have done better, and regretted the mistakes I made, and continue to make. But when one of your daughters tells you you should write a book about being a good step-parent, well, it just doesn’t get much better than that.

Dad, Michael – it doesn’t matter what they call me, because they are mine, heart and soul. Being a father is everything it’s cracked up to be, and it keeps getting better.

Happy Father’s Day. 

___

Read more article by Michael Morse, here: https://rinewstoday.com/michael-morse/

Michael Morse, [email protected], a monthly contributor is a retired Captain with the Providence Fire Department.

Michael Morse spent 23 years as a firefighter/EMT with the Providence Fire Department before retiring in 2013 as Captain, Rescue Co. 5. He is an author of several books, most offering fellow firefighter/EMTs and the general population alike a poignant glimpse into one person’s journey through life, work and hope for the future. He is a Warwick resident.