Category: Letters to Our Son
What I Want You to Know on Your Mom’s Birthday
How your mom showed me I had really messed something up was the same way she showed me I had done something remarkably well: she cried. This was also how she showed embarrassment, fear, anxiety, joy, or any of a cluster of emotions that… Continue Reading “What I Want You to Know on Your Mom’s Birthday”
What I Want You to Know About the Summer You Fell in Love With Baseball
It’s nearly 11pm on a school night and we’re on our way home from the stadium. I haven’t heard anything from you for several minutes and I’m beginning to wonder if you have drifted off to sleep, the excitement of the day finally having… Continue Reading “What I Want You to Know About the Summer You Fell in Love With Baseball”
What I Want You to Know About Uvalde
I don’t know how to write this letter to you. There aren’t any words. It keeps happening but nothing happens. All there are are words.
What I Want You to Know About the Calendar You Made Me
In anticipation of my upcoming birthday, you started working on a secretive project after school. It was one of those highest levels of classification kinds of birthday gifts. And so what if your backpack was filled with sheets of construction paper every day for… Continue Reading “What I Want You to Know About the Calendar You Made Me”
What I Want You to Know About Do-Overs
There’s always the nuclear option. I know it’s there. I’m the adult, so it’s mine to use, and I can do that. Anytime I want. It’s just sitting there, waiting for me. Tempting me. It would all be so easy. On the other hand,… Continue Reading “What I Want You to Know About Do-Overs”
What I Want You to Know About Prayer
“Hey Dad,” you say as you are getting ready for bed. “I learned the Act of Contrition prayer. Want to hear it?” “Sure,” I answer, readying myself. This is the part of your Catholic school education that I fear. The guilt. The shame. The… Continue Reading “What I Want You to Know About Prayer”
What I Want You to Know About Things That Are Broken
“You be as angry as you need to be,” she said. “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Not your grandma, not your dad, no one. And if you need to break things, then by God, you break them good and hard.” Patrick Ness, A… Continue Reading “What I Want You to Know About Things That Are Broken”
What I Want You to Know About Shooting Hoops
The roster is expanding. The Dashers recently added your cousins and your best friend at school, who finally gave in to your incessant offers to join the team. We are now at eight members, and with each new addition, my spot on the squad… Continue Reading “What I Want You to Know About Shooting Hoops”
What I Want You to Know About the New-Fallen Snow
“I’m going to tell you something, and then after that can we stop talking about it?” “Sure,” I say. “What is it?” “Promise me you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you?” “OK, I promise.”
What I Want You to Know About the Air We Breathe
We walk up the stairs to the second floor of the hospital and stop in front of the door to the ICU. A nurse hands us a clipboard with a small card fastened to it. We walk over to a bench near the elevators… Continue Reading “What I Want You to Know About the Air We Breathe”
A Widowed Father 