91 - Celebrate Life

Dear David,

My Aunt Pauline passed away last week, and I went to say goodbye to her this past weekend. She was my Aunt, but she was also Grandma' sister. What's more, is that they were twin sisters, so it was very hard for Grandma to say goodbye to her.

Grandma wrote a lovely letter to celebrate the life of her sister, her twin. I thought I'd save it for you.

Love,

Daddy


"Today is a difficult time for everyone. We are saddened by the death of my twin sister, my best friend, and my confidant.

I could stand here all day and talk about her, where she was born, what kind of childhood we had together, her flaws, her strengths, but that is not what I want to talk about today. There is one thing that I need to focus on and that is she suffered many hardships gracefully and with courage and that she is at peace with our lord.

I feel blessed to have had such a close relationship: I can see her now as a young girl while we both struggled together in boarding schools in Canada and new Hampshire. We were always so close. The one thing that I regret is that we were always referred to as “the twins”. We had separate identities, which wasn't always acknowledged.

We were often regarded as the opposite twins, only because I inherited all of my mother’s characteristics and she resembled my father. She was a Leduc and I was Faubert. She had a beautiful voice and she was often asked to sing for my aunts. She took great pleasure in listening to the music of the forties and fifties later in life.

When I married in 1950, there was never a doubt that I would ask her to do me the honor of being my maid of honor. And in 1953 when she married Normand, I was to be her matron of honor. She was also godmother to mark, my first-born and I, godmother to Lori.

As you know, Pauline spent the better part of her life as a mother to her 3 children, Gary, Neil and Lori. We shared the joys and sorrows of motherhood. When Normand “champ” died in July of 1985. She bravely persevered as a young widow with so many decisions forced upon her. She selflessly undertook with devotion, the care of our ailing father until he died in January of 1996. She was able to turn to her brother ray nicknamed "Sonny", for comfort and advice, until he died February 28, 2004.

I feel blessed to have known my sister all these 78 years. We used to joke about her being older than me by 15 minutes. That’s what my father told us any way.

She was quite popular in school and had many loyal friends. She had this ability to relate to people. She got along with every one.

We had our ups and downs, but we both knew we always shared a special bond. I looked up to her; she made me feel like a better person when I was around her. It takes a special person to make those around them feel great. Pauline did that with ease.

We enjoyed the bird feeder outside her window and marveled at the gold finches hovering about. It was a joy to share her enthusiasm.

Many thanks to Debi for being there whenever she needed anything; she certainly was a devoted daughter-in-law.

I love you so much Pauline. Thank you for being my twin sister.

I would like to close with a poem by Melinda Sue Pacho

Do not stand at my grave and forever weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and forever cry.
I am not there. I did not die"

92 - Have Lifelong Friends

Dear David,

It's that time of year again, when we head up to The Cabin in Vermont to go to The Fair. There will be cotton candy, apple cider, and of course, all the Rides.

You will see your friend "Little Danny" and I'll see my friend "Big Danny".

Big Danny and I have been friends for a long, long time. We have known each other since we were Little. We went to school together, traveled together, and been friends most of our lives. We have watched each other grow up, get married, have Kids, and now we watch you Kids get Big.

Having friends who are your friends for a long time is Good for You. So much changes in life. You live in different places. You Work different places. You do different things, and develop, and lose, different interests. You grow up.

Everyone slowly becomes different people from what you started off being. Kids become grown ups, then husbands and wives, then parents, then grand parents.

Having life long friends who have known you most of your life through all of your changes helps you remember where you came from, and how you became who you are. So choose people carefully, and make a few of them your life long friends. Even though you may end up living far away from one another, make time to reconnect in meaningful ways. Relationships have to be fed to live and grow.

Love,

Daddy

93 - It is ok to let people go.

Dear David,

In your life you will meet so many people. Some people that you meet, you will see only or twice. Some people you will meet, and decide you want to play together or even become friends. So then you might see them almost every day. Its a very nice thing to have good friends and good kids to play with.

I have watched you in the Playground. You make friends quickly, like Kids do, and almost always find someone to play with. Sometimes though, you make friends with someone who does Mean things. That Kid will push the other Kids, take their Toys, or Hit. You are such a good little boy, and when you see one of your friends behaving in this way, your normal reaction is to ask in your squeaky little voice "Hey! Why did you did that?"

Sometimes the bad behavior stops. People can change, sometimes. But, sometimes it doesn't. Some people just like to be Mean. It gets very hard when the people who are Mean are also your friends. Maybe they are not Mean to you, only to other people. Or maybe they are Mean to you, but you still hold on to them, because they are your friend, and you love them.

But when you stay friends with somebody who is Mean to other Kids, you are making it easier for that Kid to be Mean. He feels he has your support. If a Kid is Mean to other Kids, he will probably be Mean to you too, one day.

How someone treats other people is a good predictor of how they might treat you. Watch what people do. There are lots of people in the world. Hold on to the ones who are good. It is ok to let the other people go.

94 - Frustration Occurs Most Often When People Don't Know How to Contribute

Dear David,

I remember when you were Little, and could not yet speak well. You would occasionally, whine, cry, or even have a tantrum, for reasons that had no obvious explanation at the time.

The root cause was, that you had developed more sophisticated needs than your language skills could express. I would ask you, "What's wrong, David?" and you would even more frustrated.

If only you could have said, "I would like to help set the table for dinner, please", things would have been so much better for both of us. I could have shown you how to set the table or, more likely, explained why it was not presently a good idea to have you handling sharp utensils and glassware. But, you could not use your words.

Communication between us has improved markedly since you were Number Two. Your tantrums are rare now, thank goodness.

But you will always find times when you are frustrated, and when people around you are frustrated, too. People want to help, but sometimes they do not know how. Sometimes, people just don't know what to say or do.

When those moments of frustration occur, try to remember that people are good, and want to contribute. What you can do to be helpful at those moments, is to try and understand the source of others' frustration. Maybe you can't do anything about the thing that is frustrating them, but you can try and help them understand it. Helping other people understand how to contribute, is a very useful thing. Try to help people find their words.

Love,

Daddy

95 - Life is so short (and so are you).

Dear David,

There's an expression people use when they want to tell other people that they know enough to not be easily fooled. It is this:

"I wasn't born yesterday, you know."

But the fact is, I was born yesterday. I was born yesterday at 7:12 am. By nine o'clock, I was playing with my trucks on the nap of the green carpet in Grandma and Grandpa's living room. By five o'clock in the afternoon -- that very same day -- I was off to college. I remember Grandma and Grandpa's long faces looking at me through the car windows as they drove off, leaving me in front of my dormitory.

They were sad to have had such a short time with me. They were worried what might become of me.

Fortunately, I graduated from college at 6:32 PM and found a job within minutes! I worked hard. I went to sleep, and waited for something to happen that would make me happy.

I woke up this morning to find out I was now 44 years old, in a house, with two small children, and a woman who claims to be my wife. The yard of the house needs constant tending, or else it becomes horribly overgrown within minutes.

Feeding you two boys and changing diapers is a continual process. Food flies into the house in big brown bags. Garbage flies out in big white bags. But I see it as a good investment. Since, by dinner time, the two of you will be feeding me and changing my diapers. So there you go.

Life is so short, and so are you! But, in no time at all, you will be big. By noon today, it will be me with my sad face in the car window saying goodbye, wondering where it all went.

I am so lucky that I get to spend so many of these seconds with you and doing things I love with you.

When you are big, I hope you spend as much time as you can doing the things you love that make you happy. I hope you spend all your days awake.

Love,

Daddy

96 - Avoid fighting, but not at all costs

Dear David,

This is one of my favorite photos of you and Grandpa.

Grandpa is my Daddy. His name is also David. I named you after him. That is one way that I could honor him for being such a good Daddy to me.

But before Grandpa was my Daddy, he was a Soldier. He was one of many soldiers, who together, quite literally saved the whole world, when the whole world was having a great big war. They didn't want to fight, but they had to. Because sometimes if you don't fight, things can get much worse.

Fighting was very hard on Grandpa, and he was very badly hurt several times. But, because he paid this cost, he got to come home and be my Daddy, and you got to be born so I could be your Daddy. He never had to fight again, and I never had to fight at all. I hope you never have to fight either. Maybe one day will come when you have to choose to fight, or not fight. On that day you will need to decide what believe in, and what is worth fighting for.

Grandpa wrote me a letter last week about when the great big fight for the whole wide world was all over, and how everyone just wanted to go home. I thought I'd keep it for you.

Love,

Daddy

"I WANT TO GO HOME
CENTRAL EUROPE
1945-1946

Like so many people who are very smart; the Germans were very stupid also. After easy victories over Poland and France in 1939-1940 and expelling the entire British Army from Europe, they decided to take on Russia, the Balkans and the Baltics.

Since they had committed their own young population to military service, they used the captured French and Polish soldiers to work in war plants in Germany and on farms as well.

That left no one to work on the large farms in France; so they placed Poles and Russians on farms in Holland, France, Belgium and Germany.

So it was, that in 1945, after the U.S. and England had defeated Germany; much of the European population wanted to go somewhere else. I inherited a job with military government, temporarily, at Mai le Camp; an old French Army Garrison near Rheims, holding about five thousand former Russian soldiers, former laborers for two or more years on local French farms.

These men were tough. They had survived three years in combat, and as prisoners, badly treated and always out in the weather with poor food and inadequate clothing.

Quite frankly, the job was easier than I had assumed it would be; our main job was to convince the Russians to police themselves by remaining on the base, managing their own affairs, and only allowing a select few of their troops liberty to visit the nearby town and only in daylight.

We supplied them with spare uniforms and plenty of basic food materials, and other housekeeping items like soap, and fuel for hot water and barracks heating.

They, in turn, behaved well; sold about a third of the food and fuel on the local French "Black Market" and aided in the cleanup of the camp which, had been damaged. In a clever British air raid in June 1944, a German armored regiment on the way to the U.S. invasion at Normandy, parked inside the walls of Mai le Camp for the night. The Russians and the local French Underground arranged with the Royal Air Force to make a low level raid; first with a few planes to allow the Russians to escape temporarily, and then for a larger main force to sweep in with large numbers of bombers at extremely low levels to severely damage the tanks and troops inside. The damage took the German tank corps out of the war. The Russians were quickly rounded up, and put to work clearing debris.

On my arrival, months later, one could still smell the dead Germans under the rubble. The Russians didn't mind the odor at all.

In August 1945, the Russians were repatriated; and reluctantly. Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, early in the war, had given an order that no Russian soldier was to allow himself to be taken prisoner alive. Of course, many thousands were taken prisoner and put into German labor battalions. I understand that most of the repatriated Russian war prisoners were sent directly to labor camps in Siberia for life, as were many German Army soldiers captured by the Soviet Union, and not allowed freedom until 1980-1985, if they lived.

War causes so much dislocation. There were thousands of former French Army soldiers impressed into labor battalions in German war plants that were bombed until the war's end. I had a servant in my house in Marburg, Germany, who was a former soldier from Latvia. He had been impressed into a German unit. He did not know if he would ever get home. The three Baltic republics; Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, seemed to cease to exists in 1945.

For much of 1945 and 1946, central Europe was a constant move of humanity. There were Allied soldiers; British, American, Canadians and others; all anxious to go home. There were large numbers of German and former German allied troops being processed through prisoner of war camps, and often setting out on roadways to return to their homes far away.

There were uncounted prisoners from German concentration camps all needing medical aid, and every sort of humanitarian assistance, all, once again, only wanting to "go home", and routes to it were often severely damaged from combat on the ground and from the air.

Railway lines and stations, highways and canals were busy day and night without end. Food and drinking water was always in short supply.

The various U.S. military units kept order and the flow of transport and people though at times seemingly endless, was at a slow and almost quiet pace.

The universal statement was "I want to go home".

-- David Buckley, July 3rd, 2008

97 - There is no accounting for coincidences.

Dear David,

Last weekend we went to a small city in Connecticut. By some coincidence, three of my very good friends from college got married, had children, and all moved to this same small place, buying houses only a short distance from one another. It certainly made it easy to visit all of them at once.

Life is full of coincidences more substantial than this, however. You should try to watch for them. Many coincidences seem to occur for no reason, but suddenly, and just at the right time.

Maybe you find yourself lonesome, or scared some time. Then, all of a sudden, you meet a very nice person who wants to be your friend, and you are not lonesome or scared anymore. Or maybe you have a job you don't like. Then, all of a sudden someone tells you about a great new job that just because available, and they are looking for someone just like you!

Some people think these are just accidents, but I think there might be something else going on that sometimes gives us just what we need just when we need it.

I don't know what it is that might be going on. But I do think that you should be aware of it. That way, when you find someone suddenly standing in front of you, you'll know enough to say "hello".

Love,

Daddy

98 - Travel

Dear David,

We all had a great vacation last week. On Thursday, you and I and Michael and Mommie packed up The Big Red Truck and drove down to Connecticut to visit friends. You loved being On Vacation. You were very patient during the long drive. You got to play with all the other kids, go swimming in the lake and stay up late to watch the fireworks over the Ocean. Then we traveled on to New York City, where Curious George lives. You danced with The Big Blue Whale at the Museum, and played in the Playground in Central Park.

We have been traveling with you since you were only a few months old. You have been on more Airplane Rides and stayed on more Hotels than many adults. So, as a result, you are very comfortable, and in fact, excited about being in new places with new people, where very little is familiar.

I hope you continue to travel when you are big. I hope you travel very far, to many other far away places. But, you don't have to go far to see new things. You just have to go.

Travel is one of the best ways to learn about people. When you travel, you get to live like other people live. That can help you understand them better. It can help you understand that most people are very much alike. They all have families and friends. They all eat things and drink things. They all sleep at night and wake up in the day time. But they way they do these things is sometimes different. Not better, or worse, but simply different.

Traveling will open your eyes to these differences. You may even learn to appreciate them. But more importantly, you will learn how very much the same we all are in this world.

Love,

Daddy

99 - Go to Church

Dear David,

I had the best weekend with you. On Saturday we left home early and drove all the way to New Hampshire in the Big Red Truck. It was a very long drive for a little boy. But, you sat patiently in your chair in the back seat, all the way up to the White Mountains.

We had so much fun that afternoon at Story Land. We rode the Roller Coaster, the Log Ride, the Train, and the Balloon Ride, at least a half dozen times each.

You napped in the back of the Big Red Truck all the way back to the Hancock campground. We set up camp, got the fire going and ate our dinner. The we walked together down the path through the woods to the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River. It was nearing sunset and the path was getting gloomy. But, as we stepped from the trees to the bank of the river, everything was bathed in dreamy, golden sunlight. The river was clear and flowed strongly through the smoothed granite sluice it had carved out over a thousand years. The scent of winter snow was still wafting up to us from the surface of the water.

I have been coming to this river since I was a boy, and have hiked every mile of it. I know every bend and eddy. It is wild from beginning to end. No dams, houses or factories line its banks. Its waters are good to drink. I have soaked my feet in it after long hikes, and dove into its icy grip on sweltering August days. If any river, is my river, it is this one.

While I was momentarily distracted by this beautiful scene, and my memories, the figure of a naked four-year-old boy wading out into the current entered my field of vision. For reasons all your own, you had taken off your shoes, and every stitch of clothing, and decided to go for a dip. I didn't tell you to do it. You didn't tell me you were going to do it. But my own history of being inexplicably compelled to be in any nearby water, is well known. You chided me for not warning you that the water was so cold. I reminded you of the snow we saw in the Mountains earlier in the day, and told you that was where this water was coming from. You splashed and played in the icy water for a good half hour until the sun set. Then we went back to our camp and turned in for the night.

Sunday, we drove to the base of Mount Washington, and rode the Cog Railway to the summit. I know this mountain as well as I know the East Branch or the Pemigewasset River. I have climbed it many times, from all sides, and skied down all of its slopes. On climbing up, the finest moment was always breaking through the tree line, and seeing the great, steep expanse of boulder strewn ravines, rising to the brooding summit high above. It always made me feel honored to be in the presence of such awesome power embodied in stone. The same way as I feel when I enter the great cathedrals. It is something otherworldly here on earth.

There are many churches on earth, and many beliefs. I hope you find one you like. If you do, or don't, I hope you do find a way to be tolerant of what other people find worthy of believing. So many of our troubles find their source in differences of opinion about which beliefs and church are right. Try to avoid contributing to that nonsense, if you can.

The made up story I like to tell is this:

Everyone believes in Santa Claus. But one day, a group people decided to believe he has Eight Tiny Reindeer. Another group decided to believe he has Six Tiny Reindeer. So they then decided to have a big fight about it. They both believed that Santa will somehow influence the outcome of the battle, and then give the winner more presents. That's about sums it up.

There's also some intolerance between people who believe in books that were written a long, long time ago and, the people who believe in books that were written just recently. The people who believe in the books written a long, long time ago, think that the books written just recently are Fairy Tales. The people who believe in the books written just recently, believe that the books written a long, long time ago, are also Fairy Tales. They all argue a lot over which books you should read and teach.

You should try to read them all. Plus any new ones that come out while you are around. Especially books on science and mathematics. When your Brain gets hungry for a sense of wonder, science and math will give it a hearty meal. Nothing so easily dispels the clumsy notion that the universe exists as a result of some fortunate series of simple accidents, as a good book on Quantum Mechanics or Molecular Biology. You are a part of nature. So understanding nature is a good way to understand a lot.

Your church is your choice. You can worship where you please. Your church could be a Mosque, a Synagogue, a library, the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River, or the flanks of Mount Washington. But try to go, listen and learn, at least once in a while, and make your life your prayer.

Love,

Daddy

100 - Make a home

Dear David,

I went on the Silver Airplane yesterday, and I'm far away now. I already miss you and Mommie and Michael very much, and can not wait to come home and see you and, of course, bring you Presents, as always.

When I was a little boy, my Daddy (who is Grandpa), and my Mommie (who is Grandma), made a nice home for me. I would go out and play, or go to school. But when I got tired or scared, or when School was all done, I would always be so happy to go home. At home, everyone was nice to me. At home, I could take a nap, eat Apples, lay down on the floor, play with my toys and watch TV.

It makes me laugh, when I take you someplace, and when we are gone for a long time and you are tired, or just not having a good time, you ask me, repeatedly, "Can we go home now?!"

It makes me laugh because I feel the same way, even now that I am Big.

Home is the place you go when you are tired, scared, hungry or lonely so you can Feel Better. Its the place where they have Birthday Parties for you and give you Presents. Friends come to see you there, play with your toys and drink Juice Boxes. Aunties, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandparents all come to our home to eat The Turkey.

I have lived in many places. But, just because you have a place to live, does not mean you have a home. I have had only two homes in my life; the one my Mommie and Daddy made for me, and the one Mommie and I have made for David and Michael.

We have a nice house and nice things. But what fills it up and makes it our home is how much we love each other. I hope you make a home for some people some day. Its very nice.

David, I can't wait to come home.

Love,

Daddy

101 - Your luck is a debt.

Dear David,

You are a very lucky little boy. You are healthy and happy. You have Mommie and Daddy, and a new little baby brother, who all love you very much. You have a nice home in a nice town, plenty of nice nutritious food to eat, your own room, and far too many toys.

You live in a beautiful country which, despite our troubles, is largely peaceful and free.

If you get sick, the Big Orange Ambulance that you like can take you to some of the best hospitals in the world in a matter of minutes, because they have a Siren.

You have good schools nearby, and when you are ready to go, you can go there for free. Both Mommie and I have good jobs and we save our money. So when you are ready to go to college, you can go to college.

Because you are so lucky, you are likely to spend a lot of time around other people who are as lucky as you are. Then it becomes easy to believe, that you are lucky for a reason. It becomes easy to believe that you have this luck simply because you deserve it.

But that's not true.

Your luck is a debt.

You are happy and healthy because Mommie and I have taken very good care of you. You have a nice home and lots of good food to eat because we both work very hard to provide you with these things.

You live in a beautiful country that is mostly peaceful and free because many people have worked very hard for lots of years, and sometimes even died so that little boys like you, who they never even knew, could live free and at peace.

You have good schools and hospitals to go to because many other people studied very hard for years and years at their colleges to be good teachers and doctors.

You have been very lucky that all these people worked so very hard so that you could be happy and healthy. You owe them a debt.

When you grow up, you should repay this debt. You can repay this debt by making sure that even more little boys, and girls, everywhere, are as lucky as you have been.

When there was just you and me.

Dear David,

Today was another wonderful day with you. You slept until about seven, then I went into your bedroom with a nice, big cold milk and we snuggled for a good half hour as you woke up. Then you wanted to watch TV in our bed, and further, wanted me to carry you there. I obliged. I showered, got dressed, got you dressed, and packed my Blue Backpack for our adventure in the city. We drove in The Big Red Truck to Orient Heights to take the Blue Line (or as you call it, “Gordon”) to the Orange Line (“Skarloey”), and got off at Chinatown. Once above ground, you announced that you wanted to ride on my shoulders. You are getting a little heavy for this at 35 pounds, but nonetheless it’s easier to navigate the crowded sidewalks of Saturday shoppers with you on my back. It also makes you happy, and that’s most important.

The weather was perfect today. We walked down Washington Street and then to Tyler and climbed up the 23 Magic Red Steps to China Pearl and got a table. David’s Chair arrived and our table was soon overflowing with steamed dumplings, sticky rice, and barbecue pork buns. You ate all the shrimp dumplings and had a cup of mango pudding for dessert. We ordered extra dim sum to put in paper cartons and bring home for Momma.

Then, back down the 23 Magic Red Steps we went. I lifted you back up onto my shoulders and we walked up to the Boston Common. We crossed the street at Tremont and Boylston and looked for the policeman on the nice big brown horse that is sometimes there, but you said that he must be sleeping today. You wanted to get down from my shoulders and walk on top of the wall beside the path. I held your hand as we walked along, then you jumped off at the end.

We arrived at the nice new playground at the Frog Pond. Because of the fine weather, it was bursting with kids and their parents. You ran inside the gate, climbed up on the jungle gym, and forgot all about me. I sat down and watched you, making sure to sit in my usual spot, so that when the sudden worry struck you about my whereabouts, you’d have only to look over and see me there smiling back at you.

It was only 10 o’clock. You and I had been cooped up in the house for most of the previous week as you got over a bad cold. The day was sunny and mild, so I decided to let you play for as long as you wanted. Not surprisingly, you played for almost two hours, only stopping by to see me once, to ask about the availability of a juice box, which I promptly produced from the Blue Backpack.

As the church bells tolled Noon, you resumed your perch on my shoulders, and we walked over to see the waders in the Frog Pond. A few weeks ago it was funny to hear you cry when you saw the waders, and insist they go away so that you could go skating, as we do on our winter trips. We looked again for the policeman with the horse, but he must have still been sleeping. Then we walked past the great fountain, chased the pigeons around at Park Square, went down the stairs to get onto the Green Line (or “Henry”) and head home. You started dozing off on the car ride home from the train station. I carried you upstairs, gave you a Nice Big Cold Milkie, and tucked you into your bed. As I went to leave, you touched my arm and asked me to go to sleep, too. I lay there for a little while waiting for you to fall asleep, and then fell asleep myself. I woke about an hour later. You were still sleeping beautifully. So I tip toed out of your bedroom and into my office, to write you this letter.

You are only four, so it will be some time before you are able to read this letter. It may be decades before you will read it and fully understand. Maybe you will have to have children of your own before you fully realize how wonderful I feel to have you as my son. I hope to be around to cheer all your accomplishments and discoveries, although nothing is ever certain.

But, what is certain is that you will grow up. I know that days like today will not go on forever. The things we did today will become less possible. First among these is probably riding on my shoulders; you are getting so big! But soon even snuggling and holding hands on the Boston Common will seem awkward and embarrassing for us both.

Soon, you will have friends of your own, be off to elementary school, play sports and have other interests. Then I can only stand by and watch, proudly. You will assert your independence and individuality, go off to college, get a job, and perhaps move away, and you and I will be much less connected than we are now. But, for now, there is just you and me. We are the best of friends and neither of us has a worry in the world. All we have is fun and love.

So, while these days are ours, I thought I would write you this letter. I have learned a lot in my years, and hope to learn more. But at this moment, I thought it might be useful to write down for you some pieces of advice that I hope will be helpful in your life. While fathers rarely find any shortage of advice to inflict upon their children as they grow up, it tends to be more of the situational variety. Wherein a child does something the parent does not approve of, and the parent prescribes some “advice” to remedy their actions. You are likely to receive that kind of advice from everyone, throughout your life. Unsolicited advice is seldom in short supply.

But now, at four, you are completely without the means to make mistakes of any serious nature. The only things you are capable of doing wrong is to accidentally knock some things over or have a tantrum because you are having too much fun to go to bed. That frees me to give you advice with might be better described as a life philosophy, rather than a set rules.

So I have decided to write you these 101 Pieces of Advice for you, my Son. I'll try to post a new one every few days for a year. I hope they are helpful. You may ask, “Why 101?” I don’t know. Maybe there are 102. You find out.

Love,

Daddy