This photo of man and infant dozing, an ad for today’s manufactured holiday, to me is an icon of the Father / Son relationship that I never had. Is this a real father with his son? Quite possibly, not. Perhaps the infant is not even a boychild. It matters not. My perception is Loving Father with Beloved Son. Such a simple act: a small person resting upon a large person’s chest, large person’s arms cradling the child. How hard can it be to do this, for either party? Physically, it’s quite a simple act. Yet, it feels like I never experienced it in my childhood. Perhaps I did and don’t remember. While the act is thoroughly physical, for me, its power and signifiance lie in what it communicates emotionally. The physical closeness, for me, speaks of an emotional closeness, of trust. How I yearned for such a closeness with my father! Such a wordless mutuality, an interconnected beingness. The touch of body against body is such a fundamental acknowledgement of the existence of both. The child‘s being alive is affirmed, perhaps even celebrated. The father says by touch that the child has a protector, an ally to help negotiate this wild and crazy world. But the child’s touch also affirms the existence of the adult. It reminds the father that he is embodied, that he has a primal connection with at least on other fellow human. The child’s touch reminds the adult that he is needed, that he is wanted, that he, in his body, is necessary.