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She is joy.

Photo

Tingly, icy goosebumps.

I'll never forget how I felt when Stacy told me. I was standing in the living room. She as sitting on the arm of the couch. "John, I'm pregnant."

I didn't think about what I thought I would think about in that moment. It wasn't "Oh my God!" or "I'm gonna be a daddy!" or "Yee-haw! My boys can swim!"

The first thought that entered my mind was gray and fuzzy. I heard her, but my mind was behind my ears. Then the tingly sensation. It was like my blood suddenly turned into ice and I could feel the valves in my heart suddenly struggling to do what they had been doing just fine for 26 years. Somehow I was instantly aged. Then the lights came back on. Excitement. Pride. The idea of opening a new chapter.

Maybe it's just the journalist in me, but I felt that simply spreading the news was the most exciting part of the process. After all, the experience isn't my own. My daughter is also a granddaughter, a niece and a great-granddaughter. She already has friends who she doesn't even know. She's now the number-one most asked-about topic in my conversations with friends and family - and I'm okay with it. My Facebook page is covered with her face.

She brings joy to many people. My first fatherly wish is for her to understand that idea someday. For the people who have seen her smile, she is joy.

As Stacy and I fight to keep social lives and try not to disgust our Facebook friends with over-sharenting, we feel especially blessed during moments like the one shown in the above photo. It's my daughter with her great grandma. I can't describe how I feel when I look at it. Words don't do it justice. These profound, mind-blowing, heart-melting moments are why I love being a dad.