Today, Umi told me that you told her such nice things about me. Evelyn, I can’t tell you how deeply I appreciated the things she said, and how much love and pride I felt for you and for myself.
You told her that I worked a lot, that I was strong, and that I loved you a lot too and you felt it “all the time.” Evelyn, if I could write a script for how I wanted you to describe me, that would be it. The validation I feel now is all the validation I’ll need for your lifetime.
But I do need you to know something. I’m not perfect. I know you know that. I envision you reminding me of that very fact very often in your teen years.
I fail a lot. More than I’d like to admit. I can list a dozen quotes on getting back up after a failure, but I hope that you find true value in watching me do it. I hope that you grow to see that any success I find comes only after experiencing some sort of failure. Failure is human nature, what separates us from a mediocre life is deep-diving back into that goal, visualizing a win, and grinding it out until you make it.
I want you to know I have grit. I hope you already know that by the time you read this.
