Dear Son,

As I was looking at this photo of the two of us playing and running last week, the first words which popped into my head were “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”  Undoubtedly, you have heard this express by now, or will one day.   It reminds me that so much of life is about managing the tougher times and the difficulties (and cherishing the happy times with all your heart).   Sometimes we feel alone, and sometimes whatever is happening in our lives on that particular day feels like it is going to be the rest of our lives.   But I assure you, dear boy, it will not.  Everything changes.

Another great expression is the only thing that never changes is change.   Meaning, the only thing we can truly depend on is that nothing stays the same (that includes both the good and the bad).   So, learning to look at our life beyond just the immediate and into a much larger portrait of our lives becomes so valuable.    You will hear me refer to life as a painting.  We are born with a blank canvas which God provides.  And along the way it is up to us to acquire new brushes and colors in order to create the masterpiece that is our lives. Believing this way  provides me great comfort as I think about the bigger picture and try not focus on the daily minutia or troubles.  This too shall pass.

My faith in God and in an afterlife also provides me with an ever larger canvas in which to create a grand work of art.   In this belief, it’s not just this life, but the many lives before and after that are part of our total creation and the sum of our soul and our work here. on Earth.   You and I may have fought battles together in the Middle Ages, and perhaps we will solve mathmatic equations in the future, or compose a symphonic masterpiece, or simply rest together under a shady tree.    Our love, our lives, our relationships to ourselves, others and our God has no boundaries.   We are here for a long time to make mistakes and repair them.  To create and destroy ideas and problems.   To love and heal so many, including ourselves.

So on a day when you feel like all your cards are against you, remember that everything changes and in this race, you can slow down and enjoy the moment, for it will change again and again and again.  And always know that whether this life or the next, whether you can see me or not, I will always be by your side.

Love, Your Dad