The first days.......

Pumpkin,

We've been waiting for this day for so long. So many words are leaping into my brain as I write this first letter to you that it's like a dam bursting, a flash flood of things I want to tell you, things you've missed, things that I'm already planning to show you.

I promised myself that by the time you were born i would speak French, that I would have a decent job, that we would own a house for you to live in, and that, somehow, I'd be a 'grownup', whatever that means.

I think that the primary purpose of this extended, longwinded letter to you is that I want you to know that I'm as unprepared for this as you are. I'm planning on doing my damndest to be the best possible parent that I can be, but I'm warning you now that I'm going to make mistakes. All I ask is that you try to bear with me while I figure out how this is done.

We have a house in mind that we're thinking about buying for us all to live in, but we're not sure if we're going to be able to get a loan for it. If we can, I think you'll like it. It's on the side of a hill, and in many ways it reminds me of the house in which I grew up in Eltham. That was a good place to be a kid, and I have a feeling that this place will be too.

Your mother is a wonderful woman, and I love her with all my heart. I'm certain that you will have the very most love that any child could possibly have, and that you will grow up smart, strong and beautiful. There's a whole legion of family waiting here for you, and we can't wait til you get here.

I'm going to try to write to you every day, and I'll see you on around the 7th of May 2005 for the first time.

I love you pumpkin

Your Dad.