Nostalgia

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Dear Jack: Your Graduation to Middle School

11 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack,

This was a big week for you. Your school held a very special graduation ceremony for all the 5th grade classes, celebrating the past 6 years of elementary school, while sending you off with excitement to middle school.

You took it upon yourself to wear your snazzy bowtie for this special occasion!

I tried, but there has been nothing I could do to help live in the moment any more than I have, as I’ve watched you grow up these past 11 and a half years.

The best I could do has been to write to you every single week of your life, to capture a glimpse of what was going on so that our family would be able to revisit.

You are growing up. And I couldn’t be prouder of you.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Your Final Week of Kindergarten

6 years.

Dear Holly,

A week from right now will be your first day of summer break; meaning that you’ve now got less than a week left of being a Kindergartner.

And this makes your final week of ever being at the same school as your brother.

It has been such a perfect year for you!

This past week I took you to the final school sponsored event of the year, where you and I got to make some crafts together.

You were so proud of the robot we made: “Daddy, it looks just like R2D2 from Star Wars!”

We now have it on display in our living room.

You are so special and I am so honored that I get to be the Daddy of such a sweet little girl.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: You Loved Superhero Day!

6 years old.

Dear Holly,

As your Kindergarten school year is coming to a close, there are often special themes for each day of the week now.

Your most recent favorite was Superhero Day.

Conveniently for you, your brother happened to have a stash of superhero apparel stashed away in his closet- so he gladly got you all fixed up!

You came home that day and told me, “Daddy, everyone thought I was Wonder Woman! Most people didn’t even dress up, but I did!”

I admit, I was especially proud because you chose to wear your “Daddy’s Girl” t-shirt as part of your superhero ensemble.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: The Family We’ve Become in the Past Decade

10 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack,

Tonight before bedtime, as a family, we ended up randomly looking through our family’s photos on Mommy’s Facebook account. We spent about 20 minutes travelling back a solid decade; back to when you were still just a baby.

Back to when Mommy and I were brand-new parents, still in our 20s… and now we’re both 40!

And now, you’re less than a month away from turning 11 years old; as strange as that sounds to say.

From my perspective, it almost seems like when Mommy and I got married over 13 years ago, we were just playing house. Then, after a year, we found out about you coming along.

Flash forward to now: This is your last year of Elementary school. You do Taekwondo. You don’t really care so much about plastic toys anymore or Pokemon cards.

You’re growing up. And this whole time, I’ve been doing my best to not let a minute slip past me.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Finger Painting Baby Pumpkins with Nonna

5 years, 5 months.

Dear Holly,

When Mommy visited Grandma in California last week, I invited Nonna and Papa to come up from Alabama for a few days.

I took off Saturday morning to go to the gym and then meet a friend for coffee. Meanwhile, you and Nonna decided to have some good old-fashioned fun, by turning our kitchen table (which usually serves as my “office” for work) into an arts-and-crafts station.

The week before, our family had visited a nearby pumpkin farm and you chose two little pumpkins as your souvenirs.

You decided that you wanted to paint them with Nonna… with your fingers!

So you did- and you sure had fun!

Love,

Daddy