The other day I sat thinking about when you used to play with your toys. As you created a doll-acted soap opera in a child’s image of adult emotion and conflict, my heart would break for all the big feelings you would one day feel; all the conflict, ups and downs, and heartache I won’t be able to protect you from. And I still hope that someday, you can find someone who treats you with approximately the same kindness and love that you deserve, just like your father has more or less given to me.
You see, the moment I laid eyes on your father, I was kind of sure he was probably the one. It’s impossible to imagine I’ll ever think anyone is good enough for you, but when the time comes I will just have to trust you to listen to your strong and beautiful heart, just like I listened to mine when I first saw your father at that party and he was looking over at me a lot and I had been single for a really long time after a devastating breakup from my first true love and was like, okay, it’s time. In that very instant, I just knew your dad was the man I was going to talk to at this party even though he was wearing a t-shirt with a blazer, and I was like, hm, not sure about that.
And the rest is history.
One day you might face uncertainty like the kind I have with your father. You might doubt yourself or linger on what-ifs. If you do, I hope you’ll think of your father and me, and remember that clarity is what you deserve. No sooner did I see his face (under that terrible facial hair he had at the time), my friend Suzie leaned over and said, “He’s single and employed,” but I could hardly hear her over my heart singing, “This could definitely maybe work if that goatee’s not hiding anything too shocking.” Before I knew it, there were a few months of dating where I was still pretty in love with my ex, then I never looked back. And that’s your daddy.
I know you’ll be an independent and levelheaded woman with no hopes of some fairytale prince coming to sweep you off your feet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a love so undeniable it feels like fate. And maybe one day you’ll look across a crowded room and see that person that makes you say, “I am kind of sure they probably might be the one,” then sort of date casually and see where it goes just like I did with your father. And we did actually break up a couple of times before we got engaged, but we’re together now and it’s forever. I think. I’m pretty sure. We’ll see what’s up in a few years.
