A Letter To My Daughters

October 31, 2013

Dear Princesses (for that is what you all are),

As I watched you trick or treating tonight a great sadness crept into my heart. You ran from house to house, all smiles and giggles, excited by the decorations and pleased with the amount of candy that filled your buckets but I suddenly realized that most of these moments will be lost to me as time passes. You see, these little moments bring so much joy at the time but because there are so many they get replaced over the years with newer memories or the shadow cast by major life events will block out the light of the others until you can’t see them anymore.

Merida, my rambunctious four year old, I’m afraid that I will forget how your friend held your hand when you were scared and walked you right up to the scariest house in the neighborhood.  I want to remember forever how your little legs got tired toward the end of the night and you asked me to carry your candy bucket because it was just “soooo heavy Dad”.

Cinderella, my shy and waif like eight year old, I’m afraid that I will forget how you skipped down the sidewalk without a care in the world. I want to remember how you yelled out what treat you received after each house, like it was a surprise every single time.

Ariel, at 10 the oldest and the oldest soul of the bunch, I’m afraid that I will forget how your cheeks were flush from running ahead and how you battled with your umbrella. I want to remember how, without thinking about it, you watched out for the little ones when they crossed the street.

Belle, you are my littlest princess and I am afraid I am going to forget how much fun you had trying to reorganize your sister’s candy buckets. I want to remember how you walked into the kitchen wearing the sunglasses (upside down of course!) you stole from one of those buckets.

There are countless moments like these every single day that bring a smile to my face and I wish that I could remember every single one of them. For my own benefit I am going to try and write a letter to one of you each week so that I have these memories stored somewhere other than the Swiss cheese that is my brain. Someday you may find them as interesting as I do and not only see your childhood through my eyes but understand that I notice more about you than you ever realized.

I love each and every one of you with all of my heart,

Dad