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Dear Alex:
In the 10 months since I wrote
your last retreat letter, much has changed, but the important things are still
the same, and the best things have gotten better.
This past January, you were
working hard to make the varsity baseball team.
Since then, you have lettered in track and cross-country, become a
cross-country co-captain, and gotten into the best shape of your life.
Ten months ago, you were starting
to rehearse a play in which you had a good, but small role. Today, you are rehearsing for a play in which
you have the lead, and getting ready to audition for a play in which you hope
to be the lead.
In January, you were thinking
(occasionally) about school and (rarely) your AP exams. Now, you are thinking about college and even
pausing once in a while to reflect on possible careers.
It should be obvious that this is
a time of transitions for you. While you
still have unfinished business at De La Salle, you are right to look ahead and
plan ahead, because that’s the only way you will move ahead.
This is an exciting time for you, Alex, and it will get
better (although, at times, there will be some moments of anxiety). Enjoy this time, and keep doing the things
you need to do to enhance your life experience – focus on your classes, the
play, and getting ready for the next track season – but keep looking forward.
While change swirls about you,
the important things have not changed. What
I wrote in January remains true today: “You
are a fantastic person. You have a
wonderful heart and care deeply about your family and friends. I marvel at your relationship with Tori, and
I love hearing you talk to your mother about the events of the day or the
latest drama in your life. I never get
tired of talking to you (as you know all too well), and I really never get
tired of listening to you. You have a
wisdom and insight beyond your years, and it is endlessly fascinating to me.”
And while so many good things have
been constant, the best things have gotten better. You have a deeper faith and appreciation of
what it means to be a Christian in our world.
You have begun to understand the positive impact you can have on others
if you utilize the gifts God has given you.
As you move forward, always
remember Jeremiah 29:11:
"For I know
the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Prosperity, hope, a future –
these are the wonderful things that await you if you remain steadfast in your
studies, your virtues, and your heart.
You and I have spoken many times
of the need to build a strong foundation.
You are nearing the time when that foundation will be most severely
tested, when you go off to college and live, work, succeed or fail, on your
own. I know the kind of man you are, and
I see the kind of man you can become. It
makes me smile to think of you reaching your potential.
The great American soldier, General
Douglas MacArthur, prayed:
Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to
know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one
who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in
victory.
Alex, you have these qualities
and so much more. I do not like to think
about next year, because when you leave
for college, there will be an incredible emptiness in my home and in my heart. But as painful as that will be, it is the
inescapable companion and irrefutable evidence of the extraordinary joy you
bring me every day.
You, your sister, and your mother are gifts from God, Alex, and I love you with the depth and emotion that such gifts deserve. I love you without condition, wholeheartedly. You are my son and, along with Tori and your mother, you are my life.
Dad.
Great Letter, definitely helped me with writing one to my son.
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