Every necklace
“My favorite view in the whole world is you with our children. The way you listen, the way you laugh and the way they look at you.”
“I have loved you at every age, from the tantrums to the late-night talks. Each year I think this must be my favorite one, and each year I am wrong.”
“You are and always will be one of the best things that ever happened to me. I am so grateful for the person you've become. You make me proud every single day, and I cherish being your dad more than words can say.”
“People call nurses heroes, and I get to be married to one. Brave at work and gentle at home. I honestly do not know how you do both.”
“Of everything we have built together, our family is what I am proudest of. And so much of what makes it wonderful came from you.”
“I let my pride get in the way, and you paid the price for it. That was not fair, and I am sorry with all my heart.”
“I want you to know that my heart walks with you and holds you even when my arms cannot. For all the prayers I ever prayed, you are truly the answer. Never forget that I love you, today and always.”
“There was never a big conversation about what any of this was going to be. We just kept turning up for each other until it was obvious to everyone.”
“You have never once asked me to be a different sort of man than the one I am. So I have spent years quietly trying to become a better one.”
“Lately I have taken you for granted, and you have every right to be hurt. You deserve to feel cherished every day, and I am sorry I let that slip.”
“Keep me in your heart, for you are always in mine. Just remember no matter how near or far apart, I am always right there in your heart. Nothing and nobody, not even time, will change that.”
“You handed him over today without making one single moment of it about you. I have watched other families do this badly and I know what you spared us both.”
“You do the jobs nobody talks about and you have never made any of it awkward. You keep my dignity entirely intact on the days I cannot do it myself.”
“I arrived as a complete stranger with nothing to offer but good intentions. You handed me a plate and never once made me feel like a guest again.”
“We shared a first breath and every birthday that has come since. Nobody else has been there for every single day of my life. Only you.”
“People have been getting the two of us mixed up since before we could correct them. Not one of them noticed we are not remotely the same person, and I did.”
“School may be finished, but I hope you never stop being curious. Keep asking questions, reading books and wondering how things work.”
“There is a box I kept with every drawing you ever gave me in it. Your mother thinks I kept that box for you. I did not keep it for you.”
“Our schedules do not always line up, and some weeks we pass in the hallway. So I have learned to treasure every hour we get, and I do not waste one.”
“Nobody signed anything and there was never a day with speeches and a room of people. We just kept choosing it on ordinary mornings, year after year, with no audience.”
“We have not lived in the same house since those years and it changed nothing. The gaps between calls get longer every year and the calls pick up mid sentence.”
“I was too proud to say sorry, and I let it go on far too long. The truth is that I hate it when there is any distance between us.”
“I have thought a lot about what I said, and I was wrong. No excuses and no buts. You deserved better from me, and I am so sorry.”
“You spend all day in a room full of questions, noise and energy. So tonight I have planned a quiet dinner, and nobody is raising a hand.”