Cindy Kendall/Citizen photo
From left, Molly, Kristin, Ben and Steve Spence.
For Steve Spence, being a father has provided him with the best years of his life.
Platte City residents, Steve, a National Archives researcher, and his wife Kristin, who have been married for 20 years, have two children, Ben, 16, and Molly, 14.
Both of the kids are involved in sports and Steve and Kristin spend much of their free time at baseball and softball events.
On Father’s Day the family will celebrate Steve at a baseball tournament.
“Our schedule revolves around the kids,” Steve said. “It means less time to myself, but it’s been the most meaningful time of my life.”
He enjoys seeing them grow as people and watching them pursue their passions and chase the things they love in life.
As challenging as the pandemic is, Steve appreciated that his family had the opportunity to spend the last three months together in a ‘quality time’ environment.
Molly, Steve says, takes after him. “She is like me in so many ways,” Steve said. “She is my partner in crime.”
Since she is accident prone, her dad likes to tease her about what her driving will be like when she gets her license in two years.
Ben just started to drive and is considered a great driver by his dad, but Steve likes to tease him about his ’10 – 2,’ Driving Miss Daisy driving style.
Ben has been small his whole life but he recently decided to start working out to develop strength for playing sports. He was very disciplined about it and recently, as his dad watched, hit his first home run ever in a baseball game in the last inning when his team was down by one point. His team ended up winning the game.
Steve was beyond excited and started yelling for someone to get the ball so he could keep it for posterity.
“It’s a great moment when a kid works that hard and it pays off,” Steve said. “I freaked out when he hit that home run.”
Empty nesting is getting closer for Steve and Kristin, but they are not looking forward to it.
“Having kids has been so challenging and exhausting, but these have been the best years of my life and the best thing that have ever happened to me,” Steve said.
I’m in no hurry for it to be over. There’s much less disposable income, but I love having them at home.”
With two dogs that he walks three times a day beginning at 6 a.m., Steve’s life is busy but he loves and appreciates every minute of it.