Why

Most relationships are very much like two strands of thread woven together, with long dangling pieces hanging out below the weave. Jodi and I have been together for what seems like a good amount of time but still less then a third of our total lives. This is how it is with most relationships. Some of my oldest friends I've still known for not much more then half my life and it certainly has not been a daily relationship.

Then there's you.

I've had the luxury of knowing you for your entire life. I will end up remembering things about your first years, that you have no hope of ever remembering. Until I die, I will always have known you for your entire life. On the other hand, when you are 16 and sure that I'm an idiot, you will have known me for less then 1/3 of my life.

Obviously this is true of any parent-child relationship. But part of what I think makes it odd is that you end up having such a lopsided perspective relative to your parents. They know everything you ever did, and then you end up hearing some strange story at a family gathering and it turns out to be about one of your parents, but sounds like someone from Mars.

So I started writing this letter.

So you might end up knowing Jodi and I a little more through stories about us and you and our parents and other relatives and friends. But also so that you might know more about you and your history then you could possibly remember. Because right now you are only two and are most concerned about when you might next get to play with trains. But someday you will be 30 and wonder what life was like before your memories kick in.

At least that's the assumption I'm working from.