I was well on my way - 48 years old, college instructor, simple life, no children, and in pretty good financial shape.  As a college instructor, I was very energetic and entrepreneurial, so I provided lots of extra services.  I had a consulting practice that provided services to the courts, and I also did lots of executive coaching and teambuilding-I worked with professional athletes and organizations including the Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles and Toronto Blue Jays.  Oh - I also had a beautiful, loving woman in my life.  We had been together almost ten years, a pure dance to the stars.  We worked together, played together, traveled - real soul mates, to use a cliche.

On the return from one of my business trips to Green Bay, I learned my partner was pregnant. Boy, was that a surprise!  I was anxious, nervous and somewhat confused about my/our future.  As someone with a pretty simple, clean life and never having children, this reality was kind of shocking.  Once someone is pregnant, there aren't too many alternatives.  She was from a large family where children are in abundance.  To this day, I believe if we had ended the pregnancy we would not have had much of a future. 

As I write this story today, I am 60 years old.  Hannah, our daughter, was born 11 1/2 years ago, on my 49th birthday.  She is a wonderful young person - smart, sensitive to others, an "A" student, and she loves Seinfeld -we laugh together a lot.  She is active in theatre (preparing now for her next role as Veruca in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - so far from her real personality!). 

Five years after Hannah we had a son, Wesley, who is now 6.  He is the consummate sports nut, and going to be a tremendous athlete.

And - oh my gosh, then there's JT, 19 months old!  Are you kidding me?!?!?! 

I have survived Disneyland several times - literally, it was the oldest I ever felt, walking around that park!  And this was with In-laws along doing all the hard work, like carrying the kids around!  I have also survived Hannah's run-away golf cart, Wesley's tough times after birth, and JT's almost drowning in a swimming pool.  There will be many stories to come about these individual experiences.

The relationships I have with my children are deep, loving and lots of fun.  My wife does most of the hard work.

I guess we all learn about ourselves from our choices and experiences.  I've learned that fear should not rule your heart.  I learned that children could enhance my life in many ways, and they have.  The amount of laughter in my life increased ten-fold.  The hug factor increased as well. 

Some things changed for the worse, too.*  But for now, this journey has been different, enjoyable and fun.  I feel a deeper fulfillment in life, and that's good.

* In my previous life, I had dogs, and when I would get up in the middle of the night, I would often step on a warm turd left behind by Sam or Spunky.  Now when I get up, I step on little action figures - in the middle of the night on a bare foot - that hurts!

Hannah, Hannah, Wesley and JT