Dear Henry
This past weekend I wrote a story about your adoption. I hope that’s okay, because I know it’s really your story to tell. So please forgive me if it embarrasses you, but it’s hard for me not to talk about it. You see, it’s the most important thing I will have ever done in my life. There is nothing that will ever be better than being your papa. I know your dad and I have talked to you about when we got you. And while you were too young to remember anything about that time, for me, it was like yesterday.But it wasn’t yesterday. Next Sunday it will be eleven years. Eleven years.I can’t believe how fast the time has gone and how much you have grown up. Last week when I was going through boxes in the basement, I found the zip-lock bag with the clothes you were wearing when we picked you up from the orphanage. There are these tiny yellow shorts and a t-shirt with a boat on it. I also still have the bottle you were holding. You were so little and now you are becoming a young man. I don’t know if you know this, but when we brought you back to the hotel, you couldn’t even crawl. You were almost a year old, but your nanny always carried you, so you never learned how to do it. But in only a day or two you were able to pull yourself up and figured out how to get around. Now when I watch you play baseball or basketball, I can’t believe it’s that same little boy. You really amaze me. I remember thinking how incredibly brave you were. You never seemed afraid of these strange looking guys who took you from the orphanage. You were also really happy. All the other babies cried at the hotel, but not you. It was like you knew right away that we were going to take care of you. From the very beginning, our family felt so natural. We always felt that somehow you picked us to be your dads. I wanted to tell you something. This morning when I drove you to school, I kind of teased you when you asked me to walk you inside. I know that part of my job, as your dad, is to get you ready to be on your own. And maybe sometimes I push you too much. A portion of me is glad that you are growing up and that you are becoming independent. But it also makes me sad because being your dad is so great and time is going by way too fast. If I could slow it down I would. So as long as you want me to walk you in, I will. I know when you are ready, you will go inside on your own. Henry, we are the luckiest guys in the world to have you as our son. And I know that you sometimes question whether there is a God, and that’s okay. But I want you to know that I thank God every day, that we are a family. Love, Papa
