Cherish The Moments

An email to my daughter.

I am overcome by a ton of emotion, sadness, joy, fear, relief. Today, Nipsey Hussle is being awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame it is also his birthday, he would have been 37. When I heard the news of his passing, I cried many tears. I personally didn’t know him, but I idolized him. One of my favorite songs of his is Double Up. A life taken too soon. As someone that enjoys music as much as I do, I want to be able to talk to you about my favorite artist that passed away way too soon.

Recently you sat your Mom and I down to talk about something you wanted. You told us that the 1st generation iPad that Mom let you have wasn’t playing the apps you needed for school. You told us that you wanted a new iPad like the ones they had at school. First of all, you sat US down to TALK! Who are you? Secondly, you asked us for something you wanted and told us how you were going to pay for it. I know that at your age, I wasn’t able to do that. I complained and threw fits. It almost always worked.

When you sat us down, you talked about why you wanted the new iPad, you told us where the money was going to come from, and what chores you could do to cover what is left over. You came with $300 of your own money, thankfully the Toothfairy covered the rest. You walked down the aisle of NFM smiling from ear to ear. I could tell that this was your proudest moment. You couldn’t wait to use your iPad.

With the new iPad came your first email address. I made sure you didn’t make the same mistake I did. We created a proper email address for you. You don’t even want to know what my first email address was. I still use it, its my shopping email. You’ll know more about that later. Once you got that email address, I immediately wanted to send you something. With the first day of school being tomorrow, I just wanted to share how happy and proud you have made me and how I want to enjoy these moments with you. Here is the email.

Dear Young Mila,

Its 9/15/2022 and you are getting ready for the first day of second grade. You are in the bathroom putting curls in your hair, you laid your clothes out, and have your backpack by the door. You are ready. I am not. Over the last few weeks you have shared how you aren’t excited about school and how you don’t want the summer to end. You have enjoyed your days at the pool, skateboarding, or going to the movies. You truly know how to embrace the Summer. You even have a nice little tan going.

I don’t want this summer to end either. My reasonings are more selfish than anything else, I blinked and missed seeing you grow up. I blinked and you lost teeth. I blinked and you fostered a beautiful relationship with your little sister. For now she looks up to you, she idolizes you, you are her role model. You are the perfect example of what a big sister should be. Guiding her through life, providing her support, and more importantly, loving her unconditionally. We are lucky you are her sister and our daughter. I want to bottle these moments up and never let them go.

My hope for you this year is to continue to learn, continue reading books, continue to find who you are going to be in life. Tackle those challenges like building a 800+ piece Lego set or going down a quarter pipe on your skateboard. Use your anger as motivation to continue to push yourself. When you fall, dust yourself off and get back up. Learn from those moments. How you embrace those situations will show you how you overcome any hardship in the future. Forever push yourself. You are your only motivation. Make new memories. Learn new things. Teach me your ways.

My love for you is like no other. I see a little bit of myself in you, your humor, your care for how you dress, the fact that you sit in your room and listen to music, and shyness. Yes, I am shy. I love your laugh, I love your smile, I love how you care for others. You are kindhearted and want the best for everyone. You love deeply, you get hurt just as deep. I want that kind soul of yours to never hurt. I want that smile to forever shine, I want that laugh to ring through the house, I want those big brown eyes of yours to never lose sight of who you are; the beauty within you, the beauty around you, and the beauty that is you.

Camila, I am happy for who you have become. When you were born, I was so lost, I didn’t know what I was doing. Granted, I am still lost, but now I have a direction. I am learning as I am going. The other day driving you to daycare, I don’t quite remember the context of our conversation, but I said, “One day you’re going to not like me. When that time comes, please tell me.” Your answer brought me to tears. You said, “I will always like you and love you.” You responded so quickly. I didn’t even have a chance to react. Never lose that love.

Never change my little beauty queen, ballerina, dancer, skateboarder, comedian, book enthusiast, Lego Slayer, risk taker, artist, singer, Max Verstappen fan, Bad Bunny lover, sister, cousin, and most importantly my daughter.

Love,

Dad

p.s.

Thank you for everything you have done for me. Don’t forget, Lewis Hamilton is a legend.