Dear Tyler:
Birthdays are often a time of reflection, looking at the past and wondering about the future. This picture was taken for your First Communion in the second grade. Second grade was also the year you told me, in front of your teacher, that you hated school and never wanted to go back! Yes, it has been a rocky journey for you at times. You always seemed to see things differently than others. You thought that made you odd, but it actually made you feel things more deeply and that can be a double-edged sword.
We had many battles while you were growing up, each of us thinking we were on opposite sides and the other one was wrong. Words and actions that can hurt each other, did. We had wounds that we refused to let heal. Who would ever have thought that they would heal at all? But, as I sit writing this letter, on the anniversary of your birth, I can clearly say they have healed. We have gone from silence, to wary, stilted conversations where we both feared we would say something to piss the other one off, to actual great conversations.
Today, I am overjoyed to say, you call me on your way home from work just to "touch base". I can text you that I am feeling blue and having a bad day and you get it, because you have been there too. You can make me laugh more than most people because you have a clever wit that I love. You are generous to a fault with those in your life. You give and give, with both actual gifts and the gifts within you. Admonishing you to stop does not work. Your giving is your way of showing how much you love. You are a survivor, you've proven that many times. You have become a teacher of a game you love so deeply and that is a skill not everyone possesses. You see "the diamond in the rough" in many kids, because YOU were a diamond in the rough.
Most parents only want their kids to be happy, productive citizens. I can honestly say, I feel you have achieved this. I am so proud of you.
Love,
Mom
Birthdays are often a time of reflection, looking at the past and wondering about the future. This picture was taken for your First Communion in the second grade. Second grade was also the year you told me, in front of your teacher, that you hated school and never wanted to go back! Yes, it has been a rocky journey for you at times. You always seemed to see things differently than others. You thought that made you odd, but it actually made you feel things more deeply and that can be a double-edged sword.
We had many battles while you were growing up, each of us thinking we were on opposite sides and the other one was wrong. Words and actions that can hurt each other, did. We had wounds that we refused to let heal. Who would ever have thought that they would heal at all? But, as I sit writing this letter, on the anniversary of your birth, I can clearly say they have healed. We have gone from silence, to wary, stilted conversations where we both feared we would say something to piss the other one off, to actual great conversations.
Today, I am overjoyed to say, you call me on your way home from work just to "touch base". I can text you that I am feeling blue and having a bad day and you get it, because you have been there too. You can make me laugh more than most people because you have a clever wit that I love. You are generous to a fault with those in your life. You give and give, with both actual gifts and the gifts within you. Admonishing you to stop does not work. Your giving is your way of showing how much you love. You are a survivor, you've proven that many times. You have become a teacher of a game you love so deeply and that is a skill not everyone possesses. You see "the diamond in the rough" in many kids, because YOU were a diamond in the rough.
Most parents only want their kids to be happy, productive citizens. I can honestly say, I feel you have achieved this. I am so proud of you.
Love,
Mom
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