Your grandpa was awesome! Week #1

Dear Luki,

You totally slept through it, but a few nights ago we rang in the new year. You need to work on your nightlife endurance, dude. I don't want you cramping my style because you're "too tired" by 11 p.m. when I take you bar hopping for your first birthday.

The truth is you didn't miss much. New Year's Eve was very low key. We just watched T.V. and ate the traditional twelve grapes at midnight. Oh yea, and we also cried because we missed your grandpa so much.

But it's a new year. And I have resolved to not be so sad. Instead, I'm going to celebrate his life and all that he gave me. You grandpa was always happy, and if he knew how devastated we all are he would totally say something like, "this too shall pass" or "more was lost in the war" about his own death.

Right after he died, through the disconcerting and overwhelming sadness, I knew that I would be O.K. You know why? Because I'm his daughter. Losing him is the biggest problem I've ever had to face, but he prepared me for it. Nothing was ever too daunting or complicated for your grandpa, and I learned from his example.

Luki, I want you to understand that I am incredibly blessed to have had a dad like I did. And the thing that upsets me the most about him dying is that you will not get to reap the benefits of being in his company. That's why I'm writing you this letter, and that's why I'm going to write you a letter about your grandpa every week for a year. Because I don't want you to just know him in pictures and casual anecdotes, I want you to be intimately familiar with him. It will make you a better man.

Your grandpa was funny and kind, and he made the best tostones in the world. But above all, he loved. He loved others fully, wholeheartedly, more than himself. And that love, not the love he received, but the love he gave, filled him with joy. I hope I can convey that love in my weekly letters.

Love like your grandpa did Luki, it's the best advice I could ever give.

Mom