Zooming in and Zooming Out on Father’s Day

I thought a lot about zooming in and zooming out on Father’s Day. I woke up before celebrating the fathers I love to find some pictures that my sister sent from a museum she was visiting. No explanation, just these pictures of Rinko Kawauchi’s photography on display.

And I was caught by the beauty of the juxtaposition of the zoomed in and zoomed out beauty. Ordinary close-up moments mixed in with the vast zoomed out beauty of Mother Earth.

And all day I was thinking how fatherhood is like that.

I found myself zooming in on the intricacies of the little things dads do that become the big things. But also zooming out out to recognize the power and beauty of what dads can do to change trajectories and build families. And I love that I got to zoom in in person with some of my favorite dads.

Father’s Day Morning

Dave and I were in different places for the morning. I was in Utah after helping Lucy move into a new dorm to start BYU summer school (so much more to say about that soon), and Dave wasn’t arriving until the afternoon. So I was alone that morning before church. I took a walk in the Utah mountains and zoomed in on the intricacies of what was growing.

And I brought them back to zoom out and look at them all together.

Isn’t it so beautiful how all those pieces make such a beautiful whole? Just like all the different pieces of fatherhood do in so many ways.

Celebrating some Favorite Dads

I was so happy that my nephew’s mission homecoming was on Father’s Day. I never seem to be able to get to join my family in special events like this, so I loved joining in with that crew for church. He did such a great job with his homecoming talk and I loved gathering after. This was just the Eyre side that was there.

I loved having that opportunity to be with my dad on the big day. I don’t think I’ve had that opportunity in forever. Just look at that grand dad of mine.

Love him forever, and his capacity to see the macro and micro in life. And also his unique sense of style:)

We sat in a circle after all the other guests left and chose one word that starts with the first letter of our names to describe our dad (and grandfather). And then talk about one thing he’s taught us.

The word I chose was “sinews” which seems kind of strange I know, but I love this description so much:

That chief supporting force that holds a system (family) together is such a perfect depiction of that man.

After that I went to pick up Dave at the airport and we went to Provo to hug up our girls down there since they couldn’t make it to the homecoming. (It was a drive and Grace had a friend in town and Lucy had her first meeting with her new student ward and was set to help with a musical number…that didn’t actually end up happening.)

Grace was deep into the business of helping Lucy figure out how to get to her classes the next day. And Claire was in California visiting her boyfriend.

Oh it’s so hard not to go into detail right now about this emotional roller coaster we’re on with all this college business, but it will take me a bit to get my heart wrapped around how to describe it. For now let’s stick with the matter on hand: zooming in on: fathers.

Another father we got to celebrate: Max! Have I mentioned how incredible it is to watch your own son become a dad?

That he’s able to zoom in on those two little girls of his in such a nurturing and tender way, yet is able to see the whole big picture of what their family can become. These two had sick kids so we dropped a little treat over for them and found that they (well, Murphy and Abby), had decorated the whole car we were there to pick up.

Let’s get a better look at that:

Oh we were so sad the sick girls were already in bed so we didn’t get to hug them up, but this was the sweetest gift!

We basked in that golden sun together for a bit before we had to take off.

To wrap up, let’s zoom in on this dad.

I have talked about his ability to father many times. I’ve posted old pictures of how fun he makes life. I’ve talked about how protective he is. What a good trainer he is. And how he nurtures not only our kids, but me in so many ways. I’ll save the mushy stuff for tomorrow since it will be our anniversary. But oh! How grateful I am for him.

We drove away into the sunset, Murphy’s art plastered all over the dashboard, and called Dave’s dad. I didn’t get to hug him in person this year, but I got teary thinking of how hard he worked to raise his own nine children so beautifully. Giving them the gift of his unconditional love. For them and for God.

And as I fell asleep that night I kept thinking about those Rinko Kawauchi photographs my sister sent. How the zoomed-in and zoomed-out shots need each other to tell the whole story. That’s fatherhood, isn’t it? The close-up moments: the car decorated by a three-year-old, the golden evening light, the word to describe fatherhood chosen in a circle, and the vast, zoomed-out view of what all those moments are quietly building. A family. A legacy. A life well-loved.