Hi Mazey,
Today is your first birthday. That’s a special occasion. Enjoy it. You should be proud of the last year. I am too. Our little family of three worked hard to get here.
I’ve been working on this letter for months. Frantically scribbling notes and journal entries. Snapping mental photographs. Talking out loud to your Mom. And you. And myself. And the wall.
It’s not a masterpiece but I think that’s OK. There is some symbolism in there. I’m learning every day that you don’t really need a masterpiece. You just need us and that’s really great.
Your luck
You are lucky. So, so lucky.
You have two parents in the home. Grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends are all cheering for you.
You have a roof, food, toys, books, and clean diapers. Other families can’t say the same.
You are healthy and growing. You spend time every day outside in Golden Gate Park. You swing and climb and play. Other children don’t get these luxuries.
Your future is completely open to possibility. Society will give you the benefit of the doubt when others don’t get that chance. The cards are stacked in your favor.
Our goal as a family is to never take this for granted and live up to the responsibilities this great fortune bears.
My luck
Everything above? That’s my luck too and it’s totally unfair. I don’t deserve this.
Time
Sigh. It’s feels clique to talk about how fast the time goes. I might as well have started with a quick check in on the weather today (warm, sunny, not foggy). But every new parent says the same thing. I’m no exception. Seriously, where did the last year go?
Wasn’t it just yesterday Mom gave me an early Valentine’s Day card that said her pregnancy test was positive? And then I left the next morning for a work trip in Las Vegas?
Wasn’t it just yesterday we sat in the park in Hayes Valley and ate pizza and opened an envelope that said you were going to be a girl?
Wasn’t it just yesterday the doctor recommended we pack up early and get to the hospital? And we stopped at Safeway to grab snacks and I bought a big bottle of conditioner because it was half-off?
My life is now split in two — before you joined us and after.
On love
You are loved. So, so loved. More than you know.
Gratefully Dad 