dear pratt.

dear pratt,

when i was a kid...just a few years older than you are, i would pull random books off the shelves in my dad's study. i loved to flip through and see what the book was about. some of them were way too grown up for me. but some i could flip through...see pictures, and i was instantly interested.

like the world books. we don't have those now...i don't know why. but they were the best. each book represented everything in the world that started with that certain letter. some of the unpopular letters like "v" were always combined with "u" and maybe "w". i was always interested in "a" and "m". who knows why.

well, i kind of know why. "a" was popular because most of my early reading was done on africa. i've always wanted to go there. bring back several babies. i haven't given up hope yet. i will go one day. (yes, dad...i really will). and one day, if we're lucky, we'll have a baby from there.

anyway, one day i came across a skinny book called the prophet. i remember flipping through it and not really understanding much of what the author said. the author is khalil gibran. the book...it's deep. and very hard to understand. one of those books that i have to read several times to really get it.

there is a chapter on children. and now...at this point in my life, i understand so much better what mr. gibran was saying. here it is...

your children are not your children.
they are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself.
they come through you, but not from you.
and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

you may give them your love, but not your thoughts,
for they have their own thoughts.
you may house their bodies, but not their souls,
for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
you may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
for life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

he goes on to say more. more about God. and about how He made us. but the part that i've recently been reminded of is the part above. the part about "you may give them your love, but not your thoughts. for they have their own thoughts."

i won't lie. this is hard for me. and the part about how you've come through me, but not from me. and how you don't belong to me.

i guess what's so hard is wrapping my mind around all this. realizing that while i'm here to raise you. while i'm here to see you grow...i shouldn't impose my thoughts on you. instead, i should show you what exists. and tell you what i believe. and then leave you alone...so that you may find your own way. so that you may find your own path.

oh, how this hurts. and how i'll fail to do this...over and over and over again, i'm sure.

but i needed this today. i needed to be reminded that our job was just to get you here. your purpose in life is so much bigger than anything i could ever dream up for you. only God knows what you will be. only God knows what you will do in this life.

and while i can encourage you...and i can push you...it is probably best for me to just let you be.

let you be pratt.

whoever that might be.

one thing is for certain...your dad and i will always be your biggest fans. always. no matter what.

we love you.