John and Papa

People often comment how different it is that John calls Mike Papa instead of Daddy. It all started when John was just under a year old and Mike stayed home with him a couple of days a week while I was working. He kept trying to get John to say Daddy, with no success. Finally he focused on getting him to say "Papa" and John could say it everytime; he would whisper it, "papa". The name has stuck and it has become a very special word at our house. John's best friend is his papa and invariably at some point while Mike is at work, John will push a chair over to some corner of the house and pull down a picture of Mike to look at and then tell me how much he misses him. "Papa will be home later and will jump on the trampoline with me," he says. Watching Mike develop into the father he has become has been an amazing gift. Soon John won't call Mike "Papa" anymore -- he'll switch to Daddy and then Dad, but for as long as I live when I hear the word "papa" it will conjure up memories of a simple, beautiful time in our life, when John wanted nothing more than to be right next to his father.

Amy