On the Importance of Family

Dear Maddie,

It's Super Bowl Sunday, and while this probably doesn't mean a lot to you (your mom is currently napping on the couch, so I imagine the festivities aren't really pertinent to your current interests), I think most of New England is currently freaking out to some extent. Me, I'm hanging out and writing you a blog post, so I guess that says something about my interest as well.

That's not really what I wanted to talk about, though, I wanted to talk a little bit about family. Yesterday, your mom had a party to go to and while she was there, I didn't have much to do. So I called your Grandma Jill (cool grandma name STILL pending) and your Aunt Annie and chatted with them for a bit. That was nice, because I really don't talk to them as much as I should (much to your mom's chagrin, since I'm pretty sure she tells me to call my mom once every day. Let this be a lesson to you about how she'll feel when you don't call her). I've generally been pretty independent, going my own way in life and flitting about the country to suit my whims, but sometimes it's a little bit hard being away from family, and I know it's going to very hard on them being away from you, because you're going to be way more awesome than I am.

Later that day, we went to your Uncle Mike and Aunt Nancy's house to spend some time with them. Your Memere was there, too, much to our surprise! I think everybody wanted to check up on you since we had a little bit of a scare last week. I think your mother would be horrified if I wrote about it here, but I'm sure she'll tell you all about it when YOU'RE pregnant someday. You know, when you're 35 and married to the first wonderful man you ever dated when you began dating at age 30, having never really had any interest in it prior to that. Your poor cousin Autumn was sick, which is never fun, but she managed to be awfully cute anyway, which I think is a talent you'll have as well. But try not to get sick. We promise to think you're cute anyway.

Anyway, we spent the evening hanging out with your aunt and uncle, going through Autumn's old clothes, which she has been kind enough to offer to you. We talked and ate and laughed, and it seemed like every time we were about to leave, we started talking about something else and spent another 20 minutes there. It was a great day, and all today I've been thinking about just how much I appreciate having such a great family. Both the family I was born into and the family I got to choose (as though there was ever really any choice involved in me loving your mom). I'm very, very lucky, and because of my luck, you're going to be very, very lucky, too. Isn't it great how that works out?

Please stay warm and safe in there. We're not quite ready for you out here yet, but we're working on it.

Love,

Daddy