May 27, 2019
Dear Callen,
Today is Memorial Day, a day we take time to remember all of those who have served our country and allowed us to have the freedom and opportunity that we too often take for granted. Both of my grandfathers, your great-grandfathers, served in their times. I want to talk about your great-grandfather on my dad’s side. He was the original Pop-Pop, and a great man. I learned a lot from him and he shaped my life in many ways. Funny story about him. He had a scar on his pinky finger and was unable to bend it. He used to tell us that he injured it in battle. Turns out he was stretching the truth, just a bit. He actually injured it on a broken glass fetching orange juice for a superior officer, but why let that get in the way of a good story.
When I was born, my Pop-Pop invested some money to help pay for my education. He did the same for your uncles, aunt, and the rest of my cousins. He valued education and wanted his grandchildren to be able to attend college. While it was a small amount, it grew over the years and helped pay for my first year of school. I am extremely grateful to him, and I have tried to live up to that example. I’ve been putting aside money for your education as I can, and I hope someday that you will be in a place to do the same thing if you have children.
The reason I am telling you this story is due to what happened at school this week. You had an end of year test where you were required to read to the teacher and do some math problems. You, of course, aced the math section but struggled with the reading portion. Instead of working through it, you refused to participate. I had to bring you back two days later to redo the reading test. While you struggled again and tried to get out of doing it, you did complete the book. I don’t know what this means for next year and moving to first grade yet. Some of this is on me, we should have been working harder on year reading at home. I want you to enjoy reading as I do, and we’ll work on it.
I’m proud of you for going back and finishing the test even though it was hard. Always remember what I told you after the first attempt. I was very disappointed and angry, not because you couldn’t do it but because you refused to try. It’s okay to not have all the answers. It’s okay if you are wrong and it’s okay if you don’t get a perfect score. What matters is that you always try your hardest. As long as you put in the effort I will be proud of you, and I believe you will find success.
Love,
Daddy