Another thing I’d forgotten about parenting: Sympathetic stranger heartbreak.
In Lightning Bug’s life I’ve only been away more than 24 hours once, so neither of us is used to the separation. But I’m working in Denver and last night while sitting with a group of theatre-makers in a sweet little Italian restaurant, a baby from another table just started crying inconsolably, and I had to actively tell myself to stay sitting down and not go try to comfort her. I was shocked by the visceral pull to action that a few years ago I wouldn’t have felt.
The baby’s own (apparent) father took her outside, cradling her, and they returned happily a few minutes later.
It seems I am more tightly re-tuned to fatherhood than I thought I was.
Photo courtesy of Eric Coble
AUG
2024
About the Author:
Eric Coble is a Tony-, Pulitzer- and Emmy-nominated playwright who lives in Cleveland. After raising two children to adulthood he and his wife are now raising toddler "Lightning Bug”. His stories are all true.