Wilfried F. Voss is the author of The Bleeding Hills. For more information see his website at http://wilfriedvoss.com.

Today, June 17, 2012 I will celebrate my sixth Father’s Day. My son Patrick was born on May 27, 2007, so he just turned five years old. Still, after five years of being a father, Father’s Day is a strange concept for me. Honestly, I had given up the thought of ever being a father until I met my wife, and she wanted children. The problem was that we met in a time of our life that made getting pregnant an adventure, but through the help of some very capable doctors at the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, we finally received our gift from God.

And, of course, Patrick’s birth is something that I will not forget as long as I live. If you ever needed a living proof that there is a God, you need to attend the birth of your own child. I remember those magic fifteen minutes I spend alone with that little bundle of five pounds and nine ounces, while the nurses prepared another room for my wife and my wife had a well-deserved shower. He was just two hours old then. It was pure magic to be there and talk to him.

Being a father was a strange, new feeling, and I was confused. Who should I ask for permission when I wanted to pick him up and hold him? My wife? The nurse? Then it dawned to me… This is my son! I can pick him up and cuddle with him without permission.

Well, time has passed by, and just the other day I watched my son playing soccer at the local YMCA with a bunch of his friends. Imagine about fifteen kids running and trying to kick the same ball at the same time and my son, soberly realizing that this was a futile endeavor, flirting with the two girls in the team. There are six teams, and my son is in the grey team (I’m not kidding!). The grey team has, so far, not won a single game, but they all have tremendous fun, and that is what it is all about: Having fun.

It was hilarious to see five of the kids standing in the tiny goal, having a little chat, and trying unsuccessfully to prevent another score by the other team. Also, until the last game, the grey team had never scored a single goal. Well, until last time when my son (!!!) scored wonderfully. I was very impressed (and I mean it) by the professional level of his accomplishment. Okay, he scored on the wrong side, but everybody, including the coach, was excited.

Being a father, despite the various and sometimes annoying phases a kid like my son goes through, is fun. Still, as I wrote before, Father’s Day is a strange concept. Father’s Day is about saying thank you to your father for what he did, for being there, for taking care of his family. I, personally, don’t feel like I want to be thanked, even though my wife and my son are very excited about presenting my son’s self-made greeting cards and the gifts they made for me. The feelings I have as a father on Father’s Day are just gratitude. I thoroughly enjoy being a father, and I thank the Lord for it.

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THE BLEEDING HILLS
A Novel by Wilfried F. Voss

I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith.
- 2 Timothy iv. 7

The Irish War is officially a part of history, but not for Finnean Whelan, an IRA veteran of almost 40 years. British Intelligence has produced evidence that he is the mastermind behind a conspiracy to assassinate the First Minister of Northern Ireland. For Whelan this is not only a mission of revenge, but marks the beginning of a journey into the past and the return to the one true love: Ireland. [More...]

The Bleeding Hills is available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.