I Couldn’t Help But Smile

“It takes a man to be a dad”.

I’m sure you’ve heard that concluding tagline in some great Public Service Announcements aired on television by The Ad Council and the National Fatherhood Initiative promoting the importance of involved fatherhood.

One of my favorites shows a father “letting loose” in a living room dance routine with his elementary school-aged daughter.

“It takes a man to be a dad”.

Those words echoed in my head like church chimes on September 24. That’s the day I visited the TicketMaster website and, with one final click of the mouse, ordered three tickets for my family to see The Wiggles in Greenville, SC on Friday, November 18.

Never in my life had I been to a concert. I came of age back in “the day” rockin’ to great groups like Boston, Journey, 38-Special, Foreigner, Bon Jovi and Van Halen when David Lee Roth was still the front man. Their albums held a prominent place in my musical collection and I could sing along to their classic songs without missing a word. Yet not once did I experience the thrill of a live show as had so many of my friends.

So here I was, at the age of 42, standing outside a huge venue in a chilly wind and methodically inching my way to a ticket receiver standing at the front door. Once inside, we waded through a thick soup of humanity until finally finding our section, then our row and then our assigned seats. Soon after, the lights dimmed and everyone erupted with applause as our fab four – Anthony, Murray, Jeff and Sam – bounded onto the stage. They worked the crowd into a frenzy with favorites like “Big Red Car”, “Fruit Salad”, “Hot Potato” and the ever popular “Zing Zang Wing Wang Wong”. Eliana jumped up and down and laughed and sang like so many other children.

I couldn’t help but smile when I realized that I was attending my first concert with my daughter.