I always pictured a long list of “whys” for my inaugural blog launch but I think this will suffice. I scratched it in haste, in a green, Italian-leather bound journal, while still in the hospital, just days after the birth of my first born. There it sat, largely untouched until, three years later, more than a year after the birth of my second daughter, I’ve decided to finally make good on its promises. Girls, your father is largely imperfect, and you are not. In my lifetime I have left a litany of mistakes in my wake, of which you are NOT one. I have quit, been quit, and gotten quit on, but so help me the same fate will NOT befall you at my hands. Not in here. NOT out there. “Not NOwhere!” Let your histories hereby commence:
“The Brief and Low Down
10/13/2010
Your mother and I were both avid letter writers, journal keepers, scrapbookers in our youth. One of the countless beautiful parts of our relationship is that she has kept a lot of that old material. I, on the other hand, have hung on to very little. My mother and I parted company years ago and with that separation I lost every picture, postcard, art piece, trophy, ribbon, award, report card, medical document and family memento. I have made strides in the last few years, tracking people down and digging up artifacts, but the loss and subsequent pursuit have been a tremendous source of pain and anxiety for longer than anyone should have to endure. I promise you will always know as much about your history, your parents and the world at large as we can possibly convey and you can digest!! It is HUGELY important to me and may not seem so important to you since you will never know a life without it. I can’t hope for anything more.”
