A Love Letter

My dearest Poe,

I’m not going to give you a birthday card this year. Instead, I’m going to proclaim to the world how I feel about you.

You are the most important entity in my life… You shouldn’t but you sometimes eclipse even God Himself. I’ve been criticized in the past for putting you before my children. I tell them that I don’t neglect them, so I can’t understand their concern. They are loved and cherished. I just feel that my relationship with you needs to be cultivated. Long after the kids have their own lives, you and I will be left to travel life together, and I’d like to have something to say to you without the kids as a buffer. So, I nod and smile at their criticism, and know what’s right for us.

You have stood by me during some of the most trying times in our lives. Surgeries, miscarriages, deaths, poverty, depression, anxiety… All of it. You were just there. You didn’t solve. You didn’t console. You were just there. I love you for that.

You provide comic relief to my too serious nature. You make fun happen, even if I have to go kicking and screaming.

You love our kids with abandon… Sometimes too much abandon, but I figure, if they can survive having a brother, they can survive having a rambunctious dad. At least you’re there. It just breaks my heart when I see a room full of kids flock and become utterly fascinated with you. I realize that one – you’re a “cool” dad, with the tats and piercings. And then I realize that maybe they don’t have a dad at home. They all sort of drink you up, and you let them. A pat here, a joke there, a compliment there. And they’re all at ease, and have some positive attention from a male figure. It’s an amazing gift you have.

You weather my parents. You weather the fact that we’re so close to them. You know how I feel about the later years, and you’re okay with it.

I love you for your generosity of spirit, time and attention. I love you for your fun nature and gifted talents. I love your honor, integrity, and yes – even chivalry.

Although I sometimes want to smack you right upside the head – I also know that’s exactly why I love you.

Happy 30th birthday baby… You deserve all the wishes in the world.

Love,

Me.