Your Dog

Dear Lucia,

About seven or eight years before you entered my life, I adopted a dog named Bodhi. Now that you are in the family, Bodhi also becomes your dog. Logically, you have become one of Bodhi's people.

Bodhi is a shepherd/rottweiler mix. He's a sweet dog who always wants to be near his people. Bodhi protects us by barking at neighborhood cats, kids playing in the street, and the UPS lady. As is his nature, he likes to herd us by pressing his big body into our knees.

Bodhi also does some bad things. He has been known to sneak onto the leather couch where he likes to scratch the cushions, somehow making them more comfortable. Although your mother forbids it, he brings his bones upstairs, dropping them on the wood floor and leaving marks all over.

One of Bodhi's most endearing qualities is his habit of checking on all of his humans. He'll periodically get up from his bed and walk through rooms, checking to see where each of us has set up shop. Bodhi has even included you on his rounds. We often have to keep him from entering your room as you sleep, but he wants to check on you anyway. You are his; he is yours.

Love,
Dad

Holiday

Dear Lucia,

Our holiday season is nearly over. Tomorrow, your grandfather and his wife will visit for the weekend. And in a little over a week, your mother will return to her teaching duties. This is the culmination of a little longer than a month's worth of celebrating what people call "the holidays."

Not every one's holiday season matches. Some people celebrate religious holidays such as Christmas and Hanukkah. Others celebrate more cultural events such as Kwanzaa or Thanksgiving. Of course, most people celebrate some combination of them all.

We have our own traditions. Our family usually hosts a Thanksgiving celebration we've renamed "Genocide Celebration" where several of our friends visit simply to have one decadent meal, usually featuring a smoked turkey. Around December 25th, we do some sort of secular Christmas celebration with a Polish feast on Christmas Eve. This is your daddy's favorite meal of the year. Then, as we did this year, we attended holiday celebrations for St. Nicolas Day, Hanukkah, and the Winter Solstice.

The other component of this season is lots of exposure to family. So far, your Grandma Barb spent a week with us over Christmas; your Pappy and Grannie arrived as she left; and your Aunt Boog drove in on New Year's Day. And, as mentioned before, your Grandpa Tom and his wife Coleen will wrap up the holiday visits. I'm not totally sure why. That's just the way it is. Whatever the reason, it's good for you to know your extended family and to have good relationships with them.

The other part of the holidays is time off. I don't get that much as I have to work on a different schedule than the schools. Your mom, on the other hand, gets nearly a whole month off at this time of yer, meaning that you will have lots of mommy time over the holiday every year, plus your own time off from school. Either way, it's a much slower time for everyone.

Next year's holiday season is ours to travel. I'll have to tell you more about that later. Since it's taken me weeks to finish this letter, I'll just end it there. Later.

Love,
Dad

Tonight, You Sang

Dear Lucia,

Tonight, we took you to your fourth holiday party in a week. Like the good sport you are, you tolerated the noise and being kept up way past your bedtime. In fact, you may have been the hit of this party.

Tonight's party was a Winter Solstice celebration, held by your mother's doula. I'll get into this more later, but many of the Pagan celebrations have been misappropriated by Christians for their own holidays. This is technically the Christian holiday for Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. However, Pagans had way better ideas for celebrating this time of year than Christians.

Anyway, during this Solstice party, some bluegrass was played. Party-goers began plucking away at guitars, banjos, a ukulele, and something consisting of a string, bamboo, and a bucket. The music was fun and made everyone feel comfortable and warm.

Your mother was holding you. As she turned you out so that you could see the musicians play, these shrieks came from your mouth. You sang for the first time tonight. Your voice surpassed the cooing that had been going on for weeks to this holler that was heard by all.

I saw this coming, but it finally struck me how wonderful it is. Lucia, I heard your voice and nothing was ever more beautiful to me. I could listen to you sing for the rest of my life...and I probably will.

So, keep singing, shouting, squealing, yelling, or whatever you do that expresses how you feel. I don't ever want to silence your voice. And you shouldn't let anyone silence you. Use your voice, Lucia. Make yourself be heard the way you did tonight.

Love,
Dad

Sometimes

Dear Lucia,

Sometimes your dad gets on your mom's nerves. He doesn't mean to. It just sort of happens when people live together and love each other. Don't worry. I'll love your mommy forever.

Love,
Dad

Pavement

Dear Lucia,

It's been a while since I've written you, but I thought I should remind you of the moment we shared this evening. Your mom left for a get-together and pilates tonight and the two of us stayed behind. Tonight, I played some music for you.

We listened to Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted, which sort of describes you at this point in your life. I actually own the vinyl version of this album, so you experienced the double treat of listening to one of the best albums of the past twenty years on the softer, earthier tones of vinyl.

We danced and you kicked a ton to side A. It occurred to me that "Summer Babe" is a perfect song for you. I can't wait to enjoy the summer with you. You'll be taking first steps and all of that. You will be my summer babe.

"Conduit for Sale!" caused you some discomfort, which it has always done for any girl/woman in my life - aside from your aunt. Luckily, the hook on "Zurich Is Stained" brought you back down. Well, it may have been the dancing in front of the mirror, but I prefer to think that you have a real appreciation for Pavement.

Side B, in my opinion, is the better side of Slanted. You responded appropriately with some rambunctious kicks and wide-eyed enthusiasm. You really responded well to "Two States" and "Perfume-V", but it was the break in "Fame Throwa" that really got you all riled up. Your good mood actually held up all the way to the end of the final track, "Our Singer."

This was your first official exposure to Pavement and it went well. You've heard random songs by your daddy's favorite band, but this is the first time we've sat down together just to listen to an entire album together. This won't be the last. You will become rather familiar with Pavement whether you like it or not.

You might like some pretty crappy bands over your lifetime, but Pavement will always be one of the first bands of your life.

Love,

Dad

Four Funerals and a Wedding

Dear Lucia,

Although you won't remember it, you have traveled to you mother's home of Detroit twice in a two-week period. The reason was a wedding and funeral. You have been to two of the more important events in your extended family's existence and you're barely two months old.

The fact is that your mother has a very large family. This means that you will have several more events like these to attend. Most of your extended family (including my half) live in the Great Lakes region (Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc.), so you will become very familiar with this area.

The wedding was for you mom's cousin. Weddings bring people together as it is a celebration of two people who love each other and want to commit their lives to one another. Your grandparents have done it. Your mother (by the grace of god) married me. Your aunties Tara and Susan did it right before you were born. Lots of people do it. (Of course, some voters in California and other states only think certain people should have this right, but that's a letter for another time.)

It also celebrates the induction of a new family member. For example, when your mother and I got hitched, she became part of my family and I joined hers. Whether we like it or not, when we marry (or make some sort of formal commitment), we are also saying that we accept our loved one's family as our own.

This past weekend, we attended the funeral for your mom's grandfather. He was the patriarch of your Grandma Barb's clan. He was a great man whom your mother will tell you all about someday. It was a rather sad loss for the family to lose an important piece of its history.

Although the funeral was a sad affair, it was also very life-affirming. I attribute some of the happiness to you. Although your mom's family lost someone very dear to them, you entered and gave hope for the future. It also allowed the family to celebrate your arrival in dealing with their sadness. Just as the wedding from the previous week helped welcome a new family member, your birth and subsequent trips to Detroit signaled a new beginning for your mother's family.

So, you have a very important part in your Grandma Barb's family lore. There's nothing you have to live up to. You just have to live your life and be you. So, welcome to the family, Little.

Love,

Dad

Barack Obama

Dear Lucia,

Last night, Senator Barack Obama won the election for President of the United States of America. Obama became the first African-American to win the highest office in our country's government. He did this with a campaign based on hope, change, and populist ideals. Our new president has also displayed tremendous leadership, an uncanny resolve, and an intellect absent from a modern political discourse that is riddled with partisanship and pettiness. Barack Obama has proven himself to be a remarkable candidate.

President Obama's victory was more than just a man winning an election for public office. It was a social and cultural event like none other in my lifetime. I have been overwhelmed with emotion due to joy three times in my life. First, I wept and earned the title "Waterworks" when I married your mother. Second, Your arrival a little over seven months ago was maybe the most amazing, beautiful thing I have ever witnessed. I cried so uncontrollably that I could barely answer the hospital staff when they asked for your name. Now, there's Obama's win. I have teared up and choked back cries of joy ever since the election was called in his favor. It has overwhelmed me with pride and emotion.

What Obama's victory means is that anything is possible. A black man named Barack Hussein Obama was chosen to lead our country because he is the most qualified person for the job. People looked beyond ignorant stereotypes and fear to see a leader in Mr. Obama. Hope was not just a campaign slogan or theme. The word is personified by Barack Obama. It's now possible for any kids, no matter her race, gender, wealth (or lack of) can reasonably be president.

It's a good day to live in the US, Lucia. The possibilities with this victory are endless for you and your generation. Barack Obama ran on a campaign of hope and promise. You will grow up in his America. I'd say that's a good way for you to start.

Love,

Dad