Letter to Delaney
Dear Delaney,
My dear precious child today my heart is heavy with sorrow and grief. But I am here with your friends and family, not mourn you, but to celebrate you. I want to tell them a few things about you. I think that you would have loved this day, because everyone you love is here.
Delaney you lived and loved life.
Delaney you loved music, all music, Rhythm and Blues, Jazz, Country, Rock & Roll, Hip Hop, Pop, Classics, Kids Bop.
Delaney you loved to read. We taught you that if you can read you can learn to do anything. You believed it. You read constantly. You finished 33 chapter books in the Accelerated Reader program this year. You read 44 books for penny a page. You always had 3 or more books that you were reading at the same time.
Delaney you loved school, your teachers, your friends. You loved to play with them. You created imaginative games. You played with Pokémon cards and on your DS. You loved your Webkins and stuffed animals.
Did I mention that you cherished your friends & family and that you thought of most everyone as Family; Brothers and Sisters, Aunts and Uncles, Grandmother and Grandfathers. You were best friends forever to many people here. Delaney you loved your Brother and were a great big sis.
We are all mourning the loss of the things you will miss out on. But I am glad that you missed out certain things; like being betrayed, being jaded, having your heart broken, or being truly disappointed. I am glad that you never lost your wonder and amazement for all things. And that you always believed that Daddy could fix anything.
Let me take a minute to remind myself and your friend how much you lived by listing the things that you've done...
- Camping
- Fishing
- Climbing
- Boating
- Horseback riding
- Slumber parties with your friends
- Books, books and more books
- 2 Disney Cruises including a trip to Caribbean
- You learned to make Towel Animals on the cruise
- Soccer
- Tennis
- Ballet
- Ballroom dancing
We even won you a tiara at the 2008 Daddy Daughter Dance - Performing on Stage
- Singing solo on stage
- You went to New York & saw Central Park and Macy parade
- You've been to Disney World and Disney Land
- You went hot air ballooning
- You rode your bike in a 4th of July parade
- You've traveled the US, California, Santa Monica Peer, Washington, NJ, Penn, and Vegas Baby.
- You swam in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean
- You were a girly girl who loved pink and purple, manicures and hair bows, earrings and jewelry.
- You were a Tom boy that climbed trees, did monkey bars, and chased lizards and bugs. You would even help me work on the car by using your little plastic tools and hitting things.
- You loved to eat fish.
I would ask you “How do you like your fish?”
You would say "I don't care".
Broiled, Baked, Fried, YOU LOVED LOVED LOVED SUSHI.
Delaney you knew love; unconditional and never ending love from your parents, your family and your friends. You also knew how to love. You even knew the best part of love; the crush, the infatuation, and falling in love. You wrote about it and drew pictures in your diary. Don't worry I promise I won't tell him.
Delaney, I want you to know and I want your friends here today to know that I am very proud of you. I am a better person, a stronger person today because of you. You made me want to be a better man and a better Dad. I could look into your eyes and I could find strength. I could see God in your smile. You are and always have been my light and my sunshine.
Delaney I want you to know I love you so, so, so, so, so, so, so, much; more than all of the molecules of water in all of the oceans of the world. And I know . . . You loved me more. I love you my sweet precious child and if I can borrow what your Brother said to you in the hospital the other night, “I hope you have fun in Heaven”.
Love
Daddy
PS: DELANEY, YOU ROCK!!!