human shield

When our child looks back on their youth, their life with us, what will they think? Will they think that I was good Father, that you were a good Mother? Will they love their childhood and our family for all its experiences and opportunities, or find bitterness at the wrong turns we take while trying to find our way? And as they grow will they, like me, strive to accept that life is a combination of all things: hope and despair, joy and depression, laughter and anger, love...

What will they think when they look back at a childhood full of all of these elements -- when they think of the times when things weren't only great and amazing, but frustrating and difficult?  What will they remember of me when they think about the times they were badly hurt, whether it be from falling off a bike or having their heart broken for the first time? If they can remember only one thing of their relationship with me during those times, I hope it's this:

"Long I was hugg'd close -- long and long." -- Walt Whitman, Song of Myself