It was one of the proudest days of his life. He had come so far. He had won, been elected by the people, had conquered his early childhood weaknesses, had become, as he would later say, the man in the arena.

So on the day of his presidential inauguration, you might think that Theodore Roosevelt was feeling pretty powerful. Or you might think, as a man, he was trying to keep his enthusiasm under wraps, trying to play the whole thing off, act cool. In fact, what he was thinking about was his wife and kids, who were the most important people in the world to him. According to a lovely account in Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book The Bully Pulpit (available here from The Painted Porch), Roosevelt scanned the crowd for his young family, and when he saw them, he lit up. Waving not “furtively nor half-heartedly, nor as if he were afraid someone might see this evidence of his domestic affection, but with demonstration frank and full.”

And that’s how we should feel when we see our family (especially if we’ve been parted from each other). They should light us up. We should not be afraid to show it, should not tamp it down. We should embrace that love and enthusiasm we naturally feel for them, and show it proudly.

P.S. A daily record of reflection on family life and your journey as a parent. A lifelong treasury of memories. You can create one with a simple practice.

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