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Father’s Day Takes on Brand New Meaning This Year

June 19, 2022

 

Every year when Father’s Day has come around, my mind has always gone toward my dad and my grandfather, who were great role models. It’s previously been a day of reflection and missing the generations before, but this time it’s different for me.

Last August, when Rowen Michael Jones arrived in this world, making me a father, and Chelsea a Mom, he transformed my life in a way I never anticipated could happen. In this past year, I’ve been able to experience so many firsts and the joy is unreal.

Now, as delightful as it is to have a son, I’ve had to learn a few rules that are new to my generation. As a new dad I have to admit I know absolutely nothing about parenting. I’m learning as fast as I can and reading every resource I can get my hands on. Friends who are already dads are also telling me some good things to remember, too. But it’s not as easy as it looked.

We’re lucky that our golden doodle, Bogey, has welcomed his younger brother. They are friends for life. So when I talk to one of them I have to look at both of them. It’s like having a supervisor sometimes!

Rowen is a happy-natured baby and for the most part he’s been generous with his sleeping habits, so Chelsea and I have been able to get some sleep, too. In his youngest days, that wasn’t always the case, but we’ve caught up with what we lost…almost.

He’s grown so much so quickly, I’m determined to document each new thing he does. Fortunately we have camera phones that are right where we’re looking for them. He’s learned to love riding in the golf cart (when it’s cooler) and he’s been given the opportunity to watch some soccer on TV. I know I have a sports buddy for years to come. And I’ll love taking him to his first games and maybe helping to coach his teams at whatever he wants to play. The soccer ball will always be within sight in his room, but no pressure.

Today we enjoy many technological advances for children to learn and study and grow up, being challenged with colors, shapes, and textures for academic preparation and science, technology, engineering, and math. He loves his stuffed animals and dinosaurs are very popular. Nature prints are all over his room.

To all of you who are dads, you know each one of these facts about your children, their likes, dislikes, preferences, and you’re seeing what your children will want to do as they grow up. Yes, you all have a great head start on me, but I am enjoying the journey to learning new things about fatherhood and about Rowen.

I want to commend all of you who are fathers and those who are father figures and step-up dads to the young people who need and appreciate you. Thank you for being there for them. The difference the gift of your time in their worlds is priceless. Happy Father’s Day to all of you!

Cody D. Jones ‘02

Owner & Community Member

 

New Beginnings, Clean Slate Begin This New School Year

August 27, 2024
As longtime Brazos Valley residents know, we’ve been taking the back streets the past two weeks now, and until after the first home game traffic settles back, you can count on our staying there. The annual ritual of Back-to-School brings yet another 1500 Aggies to the community, much to the delight of local business owners, who survive the summer to reach the thriving days of fall and summer.

Olympic Times and Trials —What We Learn and Can Teach From Them

July 29, 2024
It’s an exciting first weekend we just experienced, with the opening of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. The week of the Olympics landed in the midst of a very busy series of news cycles that document world events and daily news. Good and bad news abounds, everywhere you look it seems. You just have to pick and choose what you want to let into your day. Yet, it’s important to be aware of the world around us, because the earliest displays of the lessons we teach our children revolve around how we respond to the ups and downs of life.

Independence, Freedom, and Choices

July 4, 2024
This is the day when we break out the red, white, and blue décor and display our pride in being Americans with the rest of our community, same as we do every year at this time. Across the Brazos Valley some of our neighborhoods are staging their own parades and parents have helped their children decorate their bike handles with streamers. Sound systems are playing “The Stars and Stripes Forever” as a parade route forms. Pedal cars are moving into position behind the four- and five-year-old drivers maneuvering into position. Electric cars driven by Batman or John Deere III slide into view.

Why We Attend — The Value of a Visitation

July 1, 2024

The Love Wrapped Inside My Father’s Arms

June 16, 2024
Just looking at these two photos, separated by three decades, I’m overwhelmed to think of how it still just seems like yesterday that my dad was loading up the station wagon, ready to drive me and our soccer team all across the back roads of Texas as we competed across the state, trying our best to stand out.

Mother’s Day — A Promise of Remembrance

May 12, 2024
Of all the women in our lives, mothers certainly hold a position of supreme love and regard that often are set far above others we hold dear in life. Mothers are, frankly, our first very best friends and throughout life, others may come close but there’s a place that only they can hold dear in our hearts.

Who Will Be Your Informant (When the time comes)?

April 29, 2024
In the past few weeks, I’ve heard from high school friends that two of our classmates had died. This is not uncommon by itself, but the surprise came as I learned that one of our classmates had died two years ago, and another some three months ago. Yet, not one person we knew in common had known of their passing before now, so none of us who grew up together had any idea that we’d lost two “of our own.” That meant sorrow upon sorrow at the delay in learning of their passing.

Joy in the Morning: Easter Blessings for All

March 31, 2024
Just as excitedly as children rush from their beds on Easter morning to see what might be awaiting them in their Easter baskets from the Easter bunny, adults have reason to approach this blessed Sunday with similar enthusiasm. The promise of the memory of the stone that was rolled back, revealing an empty tomb brings to all of us the reminder that Christ rose from the dead and God took him back home to be with him. The victory of the resurrection is our guarantee as adults that we can celebrate each year.

Teaching Our Children About Holy Week — Introduction to Palm Sunday

March 24, 2024
Now that our son Rowen is two years old, Chelsea and I are beginning to introduce him to the elements of a regular church worship service that occur with regularity each year. True, one can only make a preliminary impression on a youngster with respect to helping him or her understand the rituals we as adults have grown up with, all of our lives. The occasion of Palm Sunday gives us a chance to help Rowen know that on Palm Sunday, we are going to be seeing everyone we know waving a large palm frond as we come into the church.

Social Media Footprints — Have You Planned for What Happens When You’re Not Here?

March 19, 2024
Over the years we’ve all become more friendly with social media, whether we’re texting our family and friends or whether or not we are adding a smiley face to the post of our latest grandchild playing a sport, and we share it on all our outlets too, because you know, we are proud!
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