Moments That Shape a Lifetime
If there’s one truth every parent eventually learns, it’s that childhood slips by faster than the heart can keep up. One day you’re holding their tiny hand, steadying their first steps, and the next, you’re watching them walk into their own world. In My Dad (Mr. P): The Poet and He Didn’t Know It, Steve Piranio captures this tender truth through poems and reflections that honor the sacredness of time spent with family. His writing reminds us that those fleeting years are not just a season—they’re a legacy in the making.
Steve grew up under the steady love of a father who understood the value of time. His dad’s sacrifices weren’t measured in grand gestures, but in quiet consistency—the dinners shared, the games watched, the conversations held at the end of a long day. Presence was his language of love. Through that example, Steve learned that the most profound gift a parent can give isn’t material—it’s the simple act of showing up, again and again.
Children may forget the specifics of childhood—the toys they owned, the trips they took—but they never forget the feeling of being seen, heard, and loved. They carry the warmth of those moments into adulthood, like a compass pointing them home. Steve’s reflections capture this truth with a poet’s heart, reminding us that the foundation of every strong family is time invested, not just time passed.
What makes this realization so poignant is how fleeting it is. Time has a way of moving quietly, almost unnoticed, until the day we find ourselves looking back, wondering where it went. Steve’s words are filled with gratitude for the moments that shaped him—and a gentle ache for the ones that can never return. In that bittersweet awareness, he offers a loving reminder: don’t wait to cherish what’s right in front of you.
Time with children doesn’t just build memories—it plants seeds. The love a child receives becomes the love they know how to give. Steve’s father modeled this truth beautifully, and now Steve continues the cycle with his own children and grandchildren. Each shared meal, each word of encouragement, each moment of laughter ripples forward, forming a legacy that reaches beyond a single lifetime.
The beauty of these reflections lies in their simplicity. They remind us that the most ordinary moments often become the most extraordinary in hindsight. Reading a bedtime story, tossing a ball in the yard, or sitting together at the kitchen table—these are not small things. They are the fabric of belonging, the threads that hold families together through generations.
Because time spent with children is never wasted—it becomes the treasure they carry in their hearts forever.
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