Dear Alex

When you were a baby you fit in the crook of my arm.  Every moment I was with you, I was full of wonder.  I felt from the moment you entered my life there was something beautiful inside you.  This is the pride a parent feels in the promise of their child.  It is natural and is based on the great love one can’t help but feel when they meet a new being, in whom part of them rests.  It is the beginning of a relationship, first recognizing a gift from God.  It is miraculous, but only a beginning.

Watching you grow, learn how to be a child of God, overcome obstacles, express joy and sorrow has been the great privilege of my life.  Parents see their children do these things and feel these things because God wants us to experience the joy of creation, His joy, experiencing being and being a part of the love that exists in all good things.

Alex, when I see the way you love life, love the world, cherish your friends, your dog, all the gifts God has given you, this makes my heart full.  You are not perfect, but you are now reaching an age where I find myself not having to correct you for mistakes or selfishness as I did when you were younger.  You know how to behave, what is expected of you and most days you greet the world with your large and thankful heart.

The mornings mom and I are running around and you remind us it is time to say the Rosary, the kindness you show to our neighbors, how you have learned to share what the Lord has given us are signs that you are becoming the young man I hoped you’d be.  Through the grace of the sacraments we experience God’s love as we grow in faith and as a family.  From the joy your baptism brought our family, to your first reconciliation, the Eucharist and now confirmation it has been an honor watching you grow and rise to meet the call the Lord gives His followers.

The Blessed Virgin said “Yes” when the Holy Spirit told her God’s plan.  I see you becoming the kind of person who can do this.  Now the opportunity to help others, for you, usually involve finding a neighbor’s lost dog, shoveling someone’s driveway, being helpful to your mother, or helping a friend when they are in a jam but I believe that’s how the Lord wants us to learn to do His will.  God wants us, as St. Therese of Lisieux says, “to do little things with great love.”  You do this my beloved son.  You do this and I barely had to teach you.  You do good things because that is the kind of man you are.  The promise I saw in that baby is being realized more every day.  You and your mother are the great blessings in my life.  Thank you for sharing everything you are with me and the world.  

Love,

Dad