Well today is your parents 5 year anniversary. In our 5th year we added to our family, not counting the furry ridgebacks you are soon to meet. I thought this may be an occasion to tell you a brief story of how your mother and I met.
          The first time I remember seeing your mother was the new semester, my first at Paradise Valley Community College. We were in English 102 and our teacher took us to the library to show us how to do research for our papers, and there she was. Her hair was very short, and very blonde, just peaking out of a brown and white beanie. She had a white jean jacket on and for the life of me I cant recall what else she was wearing, though in my mind it is a skirt, she used to wear short skirts quite often, but most likely never will again being a mother and all. My loss.
        I didn’t get up the courage to speak to her for quite some time, though I did glance back at her often enough to leave little doubt as to my interests. I believed I was doing it rather unnoticed, but she would disagree, perhaps because she was always gazing at me as well, perhaps not, but we may never know.
        My opportunity to speak to her came when our teacher decided we should do group projects. I knew then I had to be in her group and needed to come up with a way to take chance out of the equation. Our teacher requested that we write down 2-3 interests on the back of a note card and turn them in. Not knowing what your mother would write down I simply waited till she stood up to turn hers in, followed her and flipped over her card and copied it once she had finished. Just to give you some insight into your mother she wrote down Politics and Public Policy. I was in her group, and from that moment on we were a part of one another’s lives.
       I passed her a note after a test one day asking her out. She took an excruciating amount of time to write back- you will learn she chooses her words carefully. We soon went on our first date….. all the way to her parents house, she was 16 at the time! That is where I will leave off for now. I figured I could write about us, before I begin writing about you. Just to let you know there are a lot of people anxiously awaiting your arrival.
       I think you will find that is the way life goes. It is really a passing of one big event to the next, and when you look back you mostly see the larger events, seasoned by the smaller that occur on the way to prepare, enrich, cheer, and challenge you. I hope you will savor those moments in life. Moments like the ones above. At the time I could recall even the smallest details, but now I am left only with those I took in deeply. Stop and take time in your life. So many of us hurry from one thing to the next without ever pausing for even a moment. Spending just 20 seconds to really absorb something may pay the dividend of being in your mind the rest of your life.

I love you. Your mother loves you. God loves you.

            I will never forget the first time I saw you. Your mother and I were very anxious, she more than I. We found our that you were a part of our life on a vacation to Jamaica, it was a Wednesday morning, it was a beautiful day. You were almost not real then, just a few digital letters on a stick that said “pregnant”.
           The morning of our first doctors appointment we anxiously awaited the ultrasound. As the doctor searched for you we held our breath with anticipation. Suddenly there was life, right before my eyes. I could see your heart, your tiny beautiful heartbeat, I knew when I saw that beating heart you were alive, you were real, and you would forever be loved.
           My child, I feel you inside of me. I feel your heart. I long to protect you, to nurture you, to love you and to guide you through this life as long as I am with you. You must forgive me this though, I lack wisdom, and sometimes strength. God has been kind to me, he has given me grace, and so I hope that you too will grant me that gift. Your heart will grow with you, it will keep pace with you, beating out a rhythm like a song. The song is yours to write, yours to measure and shape. When I think of you I hear your music, I hear it and my heart feels you inside of me.
           God has blessed me; first with your mother, now with you. God, grant me the wisdom to guide, the patience to learn, the strength to nurture, and the heart to love. I will be your father forever, and you will be my joy. My beautiful wife holds you now, she will bless you beyond what I can imagine, she will always be your mother.

I will never forget the first time I saw you.