Dear Michael,
I know we didn’t plan for this, but life is messy and plans don’t always work out. God knows, what we plan for ourselves is usually far less grand than what He has planned for us. What do we know anyway? Who knew that you’d be at home with our little girl…her constant, her steady, her rock. As a brand-new, first-time, huge-ball-of-nerves mom, I was nervous to leave my sweet, new baby at home with you (and I admit, a little jealous too.) I kept reminding myself, He loves her just as much as I do. He won’t let anything happen to her. I had my doubts about whether you would be able to handle it. I pictured a poor, screaming baby and a frustrated, exhausted Daddy. I imagined every worst-case scenario and every potential disaster, but those things never happened. You...
Family
Firstly, I congratulate you for not doing as others sometimes do which is to avoid the big "scary looking" dog at all costs. All dogs can look very scary at times, some (unfortunately) just always have that look despite being as soft as can be.
However, please, please please ask before petting a stranger's dog. Rarely do dogs enjoy being patted on the head by strangers and it would only take a split second for your child to be severely hurt if that dog reacted badly. Please teach your child that while she needn't be afraid of dogs, they – like some people – do not always want to be touched, or even noticed. She will be protecting herself from potential harm and that is what's important.
As we approached from the opposite direction, I stood to one side with my dog beside the wall:...
2,519
Dear Daddy
You know I love you. You know I respect your opinion, and you know that I appreciate all you sacrificed to raise me to be the strong, independent woman I am. You also know that we will never agree on certain things. Some examples of those differences of opinion are religion, LGBT rights, and the role of women in the household. Judging from the two heated discussions we have had on the Bill Cosby sexual assault situation, that is another matter we disagree on. While the others are things we have been able to agree to disagree on and never discuss again in the interest of preserving our relationship, this Bill Cosby situation is one I cannot keep my mouth shut on.
Daddy, I know what Bill Cosby means to you. In your eyes,the eyes of a black man who grew up during the...
3,312
Dear Father,
12 years ago you came back home after week away on a business trip with a young lady in tow, whom I presumed to be your secretary. You stormed into the house and, in your terrifying voice, demanded that we pack and leave. Just like that Mom, my sister and I to leave what had known as our home for the last 10 years. Your reason was that Mom had become "too much" hence you needed to "teacher her a lesson". We only left with the clothes on our backs leaving all what you and mom had worked so hard together to amass.
The next few months were very tough on us. We moved into a smaller house, enrolled into an ill-equipped public school and eating out on Sunday afternoons became a luxury we couldn’t afford. When I asked Mom why you didn’t love us anymore all she did was cry. She...
3,469
Dear Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana,
As a gay parent to a wonderfully delightful 14-month-old daughter, I wanted to personally address your recent comments.
I’d like to state that I agree with you both that everyone has a right to their opinion and the expression of it. Even when those opinions are dangerous and detrimental to others, like yours are, you do have the right to your views.
However, I also must point out that when someone does express their beliefs — especially individuals in the public eye with a broad reach like yourselves — they need to also therefore be prepared to allow and accept feedback and rebuttals. Open conversation and disagreement is the stuff of a democratic society.
Based on your recent behavior and defensive statements toward Elton John’s efforts to...
2,522
Dear Dad,
I’m sitting here trying to remember a time that wasn’t filled with my arguing or foolishness.
As bad as those argumentative teenage years were, I want to thank you for them. Because of those years, I have discipline. Because of those years, I’ve learned more about myself. If you were just like Mom, I wouldn’t begin to realize who I am today. I’ve learned how I always feel the need to justify and explain myself, how I am not comfortable with not knowing why or how I am very intuitive.
You helped me become the better person I am trying to be today.
But, I’ve also learned what I can do to improve myself. It may have took a lot (and I mean, a lot) of mistakes and you believing in me, but each mistake was a learning experience, each mistake was something I could build...
2,553
Dear Mom and Dad,
Only now after my own marriage has ended can I come to understand what it is like and what it must have been like for you to have made the decision to end yours.
In some ways my story seems to mirror yours while in other ways it is as different as can be.
All I know is that I really tried. I tried to be perfect, I tried to be good. I tried to make you happy. I tried to make him happy. In fact I tried to make everyone happy. The only problem was that deep down I harbored the biggest secret of them all. Although I smiled from ear to ear, I was miserable. I was so disconnected from myself and therefore from my life and everyone around me. I was struggling. I was heavy, I had shut myself off so much that I couldn’t feel a thing. I couldn’t even feel those sweet...
2,561
Dear Dad,
I want to let you know first of all that I love you and forgive you for what this has done in my life. I also wanted to let you know exactly what your porn use has done to my life. You may think that this effects only you, or even your and mom’s relationship. But it has had a profound impact on me and all of my siblings as well.
I found your porn on the computer somewhere around the age of 12 or so, just when I was starting to become a young woman. First of all, it seemed very hypocritical to me that you were trying to teach me the value of what to let into my mind in terms of movies, yet here you were entertaining your mind with this junk on a regular basis. Your talks to me about being careful with what I watched meant virtually nothing.
Because of pornography, I was...
2,743
Dear Dad,
Wendy and I will be looking forward to seeing you and Mom very soon. The babies should be here within a few weeks.
As I was riding the motorcycle on the way to my janitorial job, my mind kept going back to you and some of the things experienced in my childhood. You know, it always has been hard for us to talk on a father to son basis (which is probably not unusual for many families).
The reason that I'm writing this letter is because I want you to know the truth -- the truth about life, about Christianity, about things you knew to be wrong such as hypocrisy (pretending to be something that you weren't).
The disciples asked Jesus one time, "What would be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world?" Jesus answered, "Take heed that no man...
2,542
Dear Dad,
There are so many things I'd like to tell you face to face. I either lack the words or fail to find the time or place. But in this special letter, Dad, you'll find, at least in part, the feelings that the passing years have left in my heart. The memories of childhood days and all that you have done to make our home a happy place and growing up such fun.
I can still recall the walks we took, the games we played; those confidential chats we had while resting in the shade. This letter comes to thank you Dad, for needed words of praise; the counsel and the guidance, too, that shaped my growing-up days. No words of mine can tell you, Dad, the things I really feel; but you must know my love for you is lasting, warm, and real.
You made my world a better place and, through the...
2,891