Oh…like baseball!

Back in the mid-90’s or so, I remember there was a television commercial set on a calm and serene lake. It was a nice sunny day, the sun glistening over the water, birds were singing and a quiet breeze was blowing in the background. On the lake there were two men fishing in a boat, just relaxing and passing the time. The 30 something year old guy then turns to the older man and says “Dad, there’s something I want to tell you.” The father then asked “What is it, son?” The son went on and said “Well, Dad. You’re my only dad...and I just wanted to tell you that…I love you, maaaan!” and started sobbing loudly. The dad glanced over at his blubbering son and replied “Son, I love you too…but you’re not getting my Bud Light.” There were a series of similar commercials where the Bud Light dude ultimately ends up professing to another male “I love you, maaaan!” It seemed that after those commercials aired, it was okay for us men to tell our male buddies that we loved them. Provided of course that you emulated the same tone of voice as the Bud Light dude and used the catchphrase “I love you, maaaan!” It was an acceptable and ‘manly’ way to actually say how much you cared about your guy friends.

Fast forward a decade or so later and I no longer have any qualms saying in a straightforward manner to my close guy friends or male relatives that I love them. I’m constantly telling my 2 year-old son how much I love him. Now that he’s talking a lot more, he’s also starting to say “I love you daddy!” back to me as well. There was this one particular time earlier this month when we were playing, laughing, running around the house and just having a great time together. At some point he just spontaneously stopped what he was doing, ran towards me, gave me a huge hug and said “Daddy, I love youuu!” In that moment I actually got a little choked up. The look of affection in my son’s eyes quickly turned to dismay when he saw some of my tears. He became deeply concerned and said, “Daddy, why are you so sad?!?” He then ran to my wife and yelled “Mommy, there’s something wrong with daddy!” My wife and I had to explain to our little boy that people not only cry when they’re sad, but that sometimes people will also cry when they’re really, really happy. He was a bit puzzled by our response, so we asked him if he had ever been so happy that he felt like crying with joy. After a brief pause, his face lit up and he exclaimed “Oh...like baseball!” Yup, nothing like beer to spread the love among your buddies and baseball to bring a dad and son closer together.