birthday

{Photo Credit: Elizabeth Andrade}

Dear Cora,

Tomorrow is your official day of birth, but for you the party has already begun.  We started by celebrating yesterday with friends and family, and today you have a special snack time at school dedicated just to you.  When the sun rises tomorrow there will be more presents to open and your favorite breakfast waiting to be devoured.  But for you, my love, I think you’ve already received the best gift.

You may not remember when you get older, but right now your daddy is gone a lot while he does his job.  That job just so happens to be playing basketball, but it’s a job nonetheless.  You miss him terribly, but he misses you a thousand times more.  And when being on the road means missing big family events like birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries, I know it breaks his heart a little bit each time.  But we still know it’s best for our family right now, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

Yesterday your daddy finished playing his game in Mexico, and was on his way home on a bus in the middle of the night.  Three in the morning to be exact.  I threw a crazy idea his way: why not jump on a plane and make it here in time for your party?  We worked out the flights, figured out the scheduling, and it took your daddy all of five seconds to decide he would do it.  Even if it meant going straight from the team bus to an airport shuttle, crammed in for five hours on the bumpy route to Mexico City.  Even if it meant begging the ticket counter lady to let him check in, despite running short on time.  He ran through that airport to make his flight, sat through two hours on a jam-packed plane, waited through customs, and drove straight to the party without a thought about how tired he was.  And he did this all for the joy of seeing your face light up as he walked through the door to your party.

There are plenty of parents in this world who say they would do anything for their child.  Few, if any, ever get the chance to prove it.  To me, your daddy doesn’t have to prove that he loves you.  I see it in the way he asks about you all the time, longs for your attention, and laughs about your every antic.  But for him to be there yesterday, knowing he would have to return to Mexico in less than 24 hours, means the world to me.  And I wish I could convey that emotion to your newly three-year-old self.  Hopefully writing all this down will give you a chance to understand someday.

Your Lito says that the greatest gift a man can give his child is a good mother.  But I think it’s a two way street.  I hope you grow up to see your daddy for who he is: strong, loyal, proud, and the best thing that’s ever happened to both of us.  He loves you so very much Cora, and although he won’t be there tomorrow, I hope you’ll still feel the warmth of his embrace from a thousand miles away.  And I pray you feel content knowing that he’s already shown if there is even an ounce of a chance that he can be there for you, in any circumstance in life, he will take it.

So when the wrapping paper is thrown away and the tissue paper settles, I hope you’ll be able to see what your greatest gift is this year, and every year.  A father who would travel any distance to get to you.  To be by your side in your best and worst moments.  In fact, you have a plethora of family and friends who feel this way about you, and I pray you never forget it.  I love you, Corabelle, may you always be as happy and full of life as you are today.

XO,

A