I love this video, to me it is the true definition of a loving father. You all know what the guy was thinking when he caught the foul ball and everyone around the park was cheering and his adrenalin was pumping. For a fleeting second, as the crowd patted him on the back and he had 30,000 eyes on him, he was in the moment.
I am sure as he caught the ball he was thinking what every dad thinks about. He was thinking how fun and exciting this is to be a part of an amazing sporting event with his daughter; he was thinking about how this ball could be placed up on his daughters shelf in her bedroom; he was thinking how they might be able to get a player to autograph the ball after the game. This dad was thinking about how the ball signified the great times he spent with his daughter, and though as a father there is never enough, this would be something to look back on and point to as he watched and experience his daughter growing up. No matter how unimportant that foul ball was to the inning, or the game, or even to the season, it would mean a lot to this father and his daughter.
Then the best thing happens, she does what every kid does, she does the unexpected.
The greatest part of this whole video is his instant reaction to her. The immediate shift from a dad that was thinking about the short time he would have with his daughter growing up trying to hold on to anything possible, to a dad that was in the moment with his daughter and realized how much that instant and experience meant to him and his daughter. I really think this video, though short, displays what fatherhood is really about. It is about those small insignificant moments when you get to experience your children and realize the unconditional love that is the true definition of fatherhood.
