The Bachelor Life

When people at the office heard that Kelly and the kids were going on vacation a few days ahead of me, the excitement was palpable. Bachelor weekend! Everyone seemed very happy for me.

And yes, there are advantages to being at home sans family. There is no milk to get ready for the morning’s demands, nobody waking up in the middle of the night crying, no little people knocking on our door at 7am, no tiptoeing through my own bedroom because Kelly’s been asleep for an hour by the time I pick myself up off the couch, finish chores and get up to bed.

But this time has confirmed what I already knew, I am called to be a husband and a daddy. My life just isn’t complete without them. The house is quiet like it must be when we leave on vacation, except I’m in it. I feel a little like I got left behind. The girls’ bedroom looks like they just got up and came into our room, blankets strewn across the bottom of their beds. There are toys and bouncy seats downstairs in the kitchen and family room, but nobody to play in them. It’s odd, you clean up a room and it’s still clean an hour later. The kitchen stays tidy aside from my collection of Coke Zero cans and a much smaller than usual row of dishes. The shoes in the front hall are all neatly organized, not dropped here and there when a little lady decided to stop clomping through the kitchen in Mommy’s high heels. The house feels lonely and so do I.

The upside to the weekend without responsibility was getting to get away to Vesper Peak with Shawn, Ryan and Steve. Glorious weather, a very very cold dip in a snow-melt lake, a good solid hike and scramble up to the summit of Vesper, and then a night near the top talking about the stars, creation, food, humor, and life. And best of all good time with good buddies. I wouldn’t have traded that weekend away for anything, but it would have been a joy to return home to my gorgeous wife and my beautiful children. I look forward to seeing their sweet faces and to saying goodbye to what others call this bachelor life.