Your Daddy

Dear Sonia,

Let's talk about your Daddy for a moment, shall we? He's a really amazing guy and you should hear about him here. Of course, you are going to totally love him more than you can even believe, but it's always nice to read something that someone else has to say about someone you love, right?

When your Mom met your Dad, she and I were living together in Los Angeles. We'd been living there for about 2 years and she had another sort-of boyfriend who lived in Argentina (the country! I know!) who she had met in Europe when she was travelling that summer. Anyway, she was trying to figure out how in the world to have a relationship between LA and Buenos Aires and then, quick as that, it didn't matter anymore. Because she met your Daddy at the UCLA hospital and that was the end of that discussion. She loved him! A lot!

At this time, he was living in an apartment with a mattress on the floor and a cardboard box for a table. That's what happens when you are a resident. You have no money and you are never home, so it hardly matters what your table is made out of. We hung out a little bit, but I was busy working at a college and I had tons of my own friends and stuff going on, and they were in a new relationship, so we didn't spend too much time together. About 6 months later, I left LA to go travelling (another story - another time). Then your Daddy left! And your Mom had to stay to finish graduate school. So they did the long distance thing between LA and Houston. It went well. It was hard for them to be apart, but they managed it. Then your Mom finished school and she moved to Houston too. She stayed for almost 2 years, and then moved back to Boston in with your Nana and Papa. This is the only point where your Mom and Dad weren't sure things were going to work out. But they did, of course!

Your Dad matched for a fellowship at Yale and moved to Connecticut, so he was only about 2 hours away from your Mom. And when he finished that year, he joined a practice in Northern New Jersey, adding only about another half hour to the trip. So they did that for 3 years until they got married in 2006. It took them almost 7 years, but they knew it would work out!

Your Daddy is very generous and very loving. He fit right into our family very quickly. He's a little like your Papa in that sometimes he just sits there and watches the chaos that is the women in our family, but he also contributes to the chaos sometimes (like when he's late, or he went to Cosco and he's not home yet even though we totally have to leave to go somewhere!). One year, your Mommy had to work on Christmas Eve, so your Daddy came to Christmas at your Great Auntie P and Great Uncle P's house without her! That's when we knew he was in!

He's a phenomenal skier. You'll be on skis very soon (let's see -- born in April 08, so you'll be on skis for December 09!). He has made your Mommy a much better skier than she would be otherwise. (They both make fun of me because I'm perfectly happy NOT climbing up a cliff to ski.)

Your Daddy has had Simba for a million years (okay, only 14 - but that's a lot). He used to go in his pocket to class with him and he had a terrible motorcycle accident when he was a puppy, too! Stuff of legend!

Your Daddy always is willing to talk to someone who needs help. He loves you a lot. And even more, he loves your mom a lot. It's pretty great to be born into that kind of love.

You are one lucky girl to have a Daddy like that.

Love,

Auntie K