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Dear Holly: I Wish I Could Be Loveable Like You All the Time

8 years, 6 months.

Dear Holly,

You get to just be loveable all the time. I totally appreciate that about you.

It’s deniable. Everyone who meets you immediately loves you and finds you adorable.

You’re like a sweet little kitten. That’s your personality.

As for me, I am a grown man with so many responsibilities to fulfill and expectations to meet. I can’t just be nice and get away with it. People all around me depend on me to be more than just likeable.

Specifically, most of my roles in life require me to be the designated assertive person in the room.

It’s rare in my daily routine that I can just shut off that part of me.

When I am able to, it’s usually because I am spending time with you.

You always let me let my guard down. You make it okay.

 

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: Your New Basketball Hoop

13 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack,

Your 14th birthday is still 9 days away, but thanks to Nonna and Papa, your first birthday present is now sitting in our front yard.

Nonna wanted you to be able to enjoy your basketball goal “early”, as the weather is still currently fairly warm. So this past Sunday after church, Papa came over so that the two of you could set it up.

This marks the first time in your life you have actually had your own basketball hoop. At our home in Tennessee, there were 2 or 3 in our neighborhood that you could easily access.

But this one is all yours.

 

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Like an Only Child Now?

8 years, 6 months.

Dear Holly,

It appears that your brother is at the age now where he is too cool for some of the childhood activities he used to love doing.

For example, he expressed no interest in pumpkins this year.

So that meant more pumpkins for you!

You spent some time painting a couple of pumpkins pink, to decorate our house.

And though it used to be your brother’s job, this year Mommy and I shared the responsibility of actually carving the Jack-O’-Lantern for you.

Similar to the way your brother spent the first 5 and a half years of his life as an only child, it’s like you are getting a sense of what it’s like to be an only “child”… now that your brother is a full-on teenager instead.

You’re still into childhood activities, while your brother has mostly outgrown them.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: How You Influenced Your Sister Decorating Her Pumpkin

13 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack,

I suppose this makes the first fall season where you opted not to decorate a pumpkin. I guess that’s “little kids’ stuff” by now.

But I will say, I feel you definitely had an indirect effect on how your sister decorated the pumpkin I carved for her.

She innocently started out by deciding to draw some extra features on the pumpkin, like eyebrows and circles for cheeks. Then she decided to give it a pig nose.

From there, things certainly began to go downhill, as she drew boogers coming from its nose.

The potty humor creativity must have really been flowing, because after that, she drew underwear for the pumpkin; accompanied with steaming poop… on the outside, for some reason.

Granted, you didn’t even see her work on the pumpkin until after she finished it- and I truly believe much of her inspiration was to make you laugh, knowing you have always had a reputation in our family for turning everything into potty humor.

So yeah, I give you the credit for inspiring your sister to choose to decorate her Halloween pumpkin, accordingly.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: You Went to the County Fair Here in Alabama

8 and a half years old.

Dear Holly,

Saturday morning, I received a message from Aunt Dana giving me a rundown of the expenses of the County Fair she had experienced the night before. Originally, our whole family was going to make a day out of it. But after her message, it quickly turned into, “Thank you for taking Holly to the fair so I don’t have to go!”

Lucky for you, you have an aunt you lives a few houses down from us who is faithful to assume the role of “Saturday morning hero” and take you to the fair with your cousins.

I am so happy for you that you had such a great time there! And I am almost just as happy that I didn’t have to go.

The pictures look like you had plenty of fun for the both of us though.

 

Love,

Daddy