Dear Carl

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On your birthday, the first you’re celebrating as a father, I want to list all the things I’d love our son to inherit from you.

I think we can both agree that he looks more like me, but if his heart can be a mirror image of yours, I will feel immensely blessed. 

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1. Your kindness: The way you’re nice to everyone you meet, no matter how small, large, or furry. I pray he discovers early on that the world would be a better place if everyone was kind and that this needs to start with him. 

2. Your confidence without a drop of pretentiousness: How you can hold your own with the greatest of giants and sincerely earn their respect. How you don’t puff your feathers or feel intimidated in new places. This is a trait I wish more people knew they possessed. 

3. Your passion: I hope he finds early on something that will drive him, something he will wake up every morning looking forward to doing the way you did. I hope he falls in love with a skill or art in the same light you fell in love with film. I hope it attaches to his core and keeps him up at night with the plan that he will work hard towards being great at it. 

4. Your love for the outdoors: For water, sunshine, trees, and clean air. I hope he appreciates nature and treats it with reverence. That he enjoys swimming in tropical waters, taking hikes through majestic rock formations, climbing really old trees, and running through dewy grass. 

5. Your generosity with your gifts: I’ve always said that you are a great teacher, and I believe it’s because you genuinely want people to better themselves. I have become a stronger person since you came into my world at 27, I can’t wait to see what you can offer someone who has a lifetime to learn from you.

 Thank you for being real. I couldn’t have put together anyone better.