Dear Amon,

Today I found a book in the St. John’s Episcopal Church Bookstore, following services,  while visiting Dindy and Duke in Tallahassee.    The book is titled, You’re Here for a Reason by Nancy Tillman.   Dindy pointed it out to me and I thought it was a wonderful theme.   So I am sending it to you for Easter with an inscription that says:

Dearest son, Amon,  

The day you were born will always be the most magical, fantastic, amazing, miraculous, life-changing and important day in my life.  You ARE here for a reason and aren’t we all lucky.  

Love, Daddy

Below are the words in the book.    

You’re here for a reason, you certainly are.   The would would be different without you, by far.   If not for your hands and your eyes and your feet, the world, like a puzzle, would be incomplete.  

Even the smallest of things that you do, blossom and multiply far beyond you.  A kindness, for instance, may triple for days… or set things in motion in different ways.

It travels much further than you’ll ever know.. under the tree tops… over the snow…til it’s wandered…  and fluttered… and floated… and twirled — making things happen all over the world.

You’re here for a reason.  It’s totally true.  You’re part of a world that is counting on you.   So don’t be too worried if some days fall flat.   Good things can happen even from that.  

Life can be tricky, there isn’t a doubt.  You’ll skin your knees trying to figure it out.   But life works together, the good and the bad, the silly and awful, and happy and sag, to paint a big picture we can’t always see… a picture that needs you, most definitely.  

Remember that next time a day goes all wrong…to somebody else, you will always be strong.   And that ball that you lose or that kite you let go could make someone’s day — you just never know!  

You’re here for a reason.  If you think you’re not, I would just say that perhaps you forgot — a piece of the world that is precious and dear would surely be missing if you weren’t here.   If not for your smile and your laugh and your heart, this place we call home would be minus a part.   

Thank goodness you’re here!   Thank goodness times two!  I just can’t imagine a world without you.

Love, your Dad

 

 

Dear Sweet Boy,

I saw this today online and thought of the kind of positive force I want to be in your life.   I think about all the adults along my path who lifted me up and gave me courage, confidence and strength in myself and my future.  Dindy once gave me a book called Balcony People.  The basic premise was that in our lives we have both “balcony people” who life us up, and “basement people” who pull us down.

In life, find those balcony people and stick with them.   They will help you are your toughest days (as well as the good ones).  Your Grandma Annie is one of those people in my life.  Your Godmother Stephanie is another.  And there were many others along the way.  Someday I will love to share stories about them all.  In the meantime, below are 66 Positive Things I will hope to always say to you.

Love, Dad