It was just another day on vacation for the Roosevelts in 1921. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then thirty-nine years old, in the prime of his career and life, spent the morning sailing around Campobello Island with Eleanor and his two older boys. They had quite an adventure. Seeing a small fire on another nearby island, they rushed and put it out as a family. When they got back, FDR and his sons raced each other more than a mile to a swimming hole. And then later they jumped into the Bay of Fundy together.
For FDR, a busy man, these days were too few. This one, in 1921, took on a special significance after the fact, because, as Doris Kearns Goodwin writes in her book Leadership, within forty-eight hours, “paralysis had spread to [FDR’s] limbs, thumbs, toes, back, bladder, and rectal sphincter. Pain shot up and down his legs.” His life would never be the same. Never again would he race his boys on foot. Never again could he play and sail and dive with them without intense physical pain. In fact, he very nearly died.
The hard truth is that today could be that day for us. We have no idea what viruses or diseases are already making their way through our bodies. We have no idea what awaits us at the top of the stairs or around the corner or across the street. So we must enjoy every moment with our kids. We must give everything we have to being a parent and relish the joy they bring us.