Love to Love
Dearest Daughter,
Throughout your life you will find the phrase "love" thrown around. You'll struggle with it's meaning on so many levels. Ya know at one time - I made a pretty funny statement that said, "There's the love I have for my family and friends. The love I have for my wife. And then there is the love I have for Waylon Jennings." One day you'll understand that.
But - throughout your life you will love. You will fall in love. You will have your heart broken. You will be bad at it. You will be good at it. It will sometimes be fierce, fiery, and fast. Other times it will be slow, funny, and magical.
But rest assured your entire life will be set in pursuit of the magic feeling called love.You may not know it directly but everything you do - your job, your school, your friends, your family your choices are made around the pursuit of love.
Every song you listen to will remind you of someone or some place that you loved.
Every place you frequent will remind you of the love you had there.
All the times you spend with family and friends is meant to build this momentum to ultimate unconditional love.
Your Grandfather, my Father, used to tell me - that family love is unconditional. It might be. But it has yet to be proven by me. Until you. You prove unconditional love to me. When I see you there is no way that anything anywhere would take your place. Nothing on this Earth could fill the vase of you.
The love you'll feel towards boys or even girls will obviously be different than the love I felt towards girls. But one thing I would like to bestow upon you is the delicate nature of another heart. One day you're going to look at someone you are in love with and realize that you don't love them anymore. Or you will see the eyes of someone that may feel as though they are in love with you and yet you may not love them. This is a delicate thing. This will happen. And it will also happen to you - you will one day love someone that does not love you back.
The only advice I can give here is - don't be afraid but be respectful. Someone's heart is their gift - treat it as though it is your shared gift. Do not perform malice on their feelings or their trust in you. Don't be afraid to be fragile and to be honest and open. Don't be afraid to show someone that you love them. Be brave in your love. Be bold in it's existence. Don't be shy or ashamed of how you feel. You may be young. You may be wrong. You may be blinded by beauty or by intoxication but the fact remains that the pursuit of love is the binding force that holds the world's magic in it's orbit.
I believe in love. I believe in it's power to do great things. I believe that it has cured and killed the world many times over. But in it's power comes perspective. And your perspective will be much different than mine. The thing you want to remember is that life is an experience that you can live two ways - You can not take chances and limit your exposure to love (you will probably feel less pain and have less tears) or you can put your heart on your sleeve (and feel a lot of pain and but also receive the sweetest gift of all in love).
As your Dad - I recommend the second one. You'll be much more interesting that way.
Always and always -
Dad
