Happy Birthday From Daddy..!!
Kirynie, today is your third birthday, which is so amazing to me because it has already been three years since that day in Worcester that your mom and I were at the hospital, and we took a walk in the Nunnery Wood, your mom on her crutches, trying to encourage you to pop out and say ‘hello..!!’ Of course, now you say hello all the time, and without any help from anyone else! These last three years have been such an adventure for our family because we had you, we learned how to keep food down you, which was a little difficult at first, then we prepared for our big move, then we flew from England to America, and finally we settled down on a ranch in Nevada, and got horses and chickens and pheasants and ducks. The whole time you have been going from baby in tow to little girl in charge, learning how to do as much as you could, and always making everyone around you smile and always making me so proud of you!
Of course, by the time you actually ever READ this on your own, you will be much older, and you will have grown so much more. Well, my darling, today is the day we celebrate your third birthday, and even though we are still settling in and we can’t get you everything I would like to, it doesn’t matter because you are already everything I could ever want, and that’s how family is. We have each other, and for that I am the happiest man on Earth! I hope that you have grown to be as happy as can be, and that whatever has happened in the years between when I wrote this, and when you are sat in that chair, reading it, you have learned to be happy no matter what, to keep learning no matter what, and to make the best choices you can with as much confidence as you can muster, then follow through with courage.
As I write this, you are across the room from me, teasing Dylan, and smiling as big as can be. You are learning to form the I Love You sign with your hands and whatever other signs you can learn. We are heading in to Las Vegas tomorrow, and we are looking forward to getting there and having a lunch that I am planning on dedicating in part to your birthday at the Firelight Buffet in the Sam’s Town Casino. Right now, the Space Shuttle Atlantis is on it’s last mission, and the last mission for the Space Shuttle program, something that has been going since I was in grade school. Gas costs nearly $4 per gallon today, though it has gone just over $4 in the past, but when I was a kid I remember prices like $0.64 per gallon, and of course everybody is complaining about $4! A gallon of Milk costs $3.23 at the local market, and horse feed is costing us $215 per 1,200 pounds bag of Alfalfa cubes. Barak Obama is the President of the United States, and Elizabeth is the Queen of England. Osama Bin Laden was killed two months ago, and every day, the world seems like it is about two days from the collapse and end of everything we know, yet we still trudge on, despite the perceived uncertainty. You keep trudging on too, because that feeling is actually NORMAL! You will be fine as long as you make good choices and stick to being YOU..!!!
I love you, Kirynie! You are learning to speak so well, and you always seem to know what’s going on and what you are doing. You are wonderful beyond words to me! You still sleep in our bed, and to be honest, I love having you to snuggle up with! I seldom ever get angry at you for anything, even though I sometimes have to be stern with you to help you to learn.
Your blonde hair and your blue eyes contribute to your cute little face, and attract so much attention to you from complete strangers. I have long lost count of how many people both in England and in America have stopped me and said how cute you are. You attract attention! As a father, this is more than a bit frightening at times, and fills me up with more than a little pride as well. But I know something strangers don’t, and that is that under your shyness, and under your cuteness, there is a little girl who is bound to become a woman, and who is already one of the most amazing people, at THREE, that I have ever known in my life!
I am happy beyond expression to be your father, and I love you so much, Kiry! Happy Birthday, and may you have an hundred more of them!
Yours in the love and sincerity that only a father can offer you,
Kelsey J Bacon, your Daddy!