Hello Little Man,
You will inherit a lot from us. Your brown peach fuzz on your head will eventually turn dark and your head will feel very hot during daylight of summer. We will have to watch your teeth likes hawks and swoop in as soon as something looks crooked in there. We think your eyes are doomed, both mommy and daddy are blind. Hopefully, you will not turn out to be the nerdy toddler wearing the coke bottle glasses.
Worst of all, you'll inherit your daddy's fiendish loyalty to The Minnesota Vikings, a football team that has lost more times than win this 2008 season. Your daddy will be mad that I wrote this and yes, Mommy's VA Tech Hokies aren't doing too well either. The point is losing is sad, horrible, infuriating, awful and god it sucks but it's okay. We shake it off and that's that. Sports is one of those things that lends itself to metaphors and symbolism so forgive me and indulge me in drawing comparisons between life and sports, I know it's cliche! In life...you’re gonna lose. If you’re like most of us you’re gonna lose a lot more than you win. Not much will be handed to you, although daddy and I will do our best to equip you for everything you’ll encounter. You’ll get knocked down again and again, in spite of all your best intentions and planning. It sucks and it’s awful, and no, it’s not fair. There are always gonna be guys (read: “other teams”) with more money than you, with more talent than you, that stay healthier than you, and that they're just plain luckier than you. They’ll seem to skate to victory without breaking a sweat. They’ll seem to simply show up and walk to wherever it is you want to go and can’t quite get to no matter how hard you try. What’s important isn’t the winning. What’s important is the trying. That you get up and try again. Being a sports fan kinda prepares you for that. It teaches you patience, forgiveness, and loyalty. Vikings is your daddy's team and it will be yours little man and we’ll stick with ‘em. Otherwise, what are you worth to your friends when things get bad? What kind of man bails out on his team? Oh! don't ever boo your own team. Get sad, get mad, get angry, get purple– there’s a reason why our guys wear that deep Vikings purple, son– but don’t boo our guys.
Life is not all bummers, when you win it'll be magical. You'll be on top of the world. Most important of all you’ll learn that winning might make you feel good but it doesn’t necessarily make you great, don't get too cocky! Getting knocked down isn’t a measure of who you are. It’s that you get up again. And the people in life worth surrounding yourself with will be the ones cheering you on.
We love you dearly,
Mom and dad
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