Dear Daniel,
Well, the summer is upon us again. Already we’ve faced some extreme heat and while there has now been a window of reprieve, it looks like more overly excited molecules of nitrogen, argon and oxygen are coming our way!
I really hope you had a great year at school – not just in an academic sense, but in the sense of having fun and growing into the world. That’s something you are rapidly doing now.
I know that you will grow to be – not just a good person – but in fact a tremendous person; full of kindness, perception and energy. I feel that this is true in my heart, because I remember the last time I saw you – you were only a very small boy, but you had a light of goodness in your eyes and in your smile that I have not forgotten, even all these years later.
Your sisters are doing extremely well, by the way. Anna has had her first legal article published in one of the world leading legal blogs. She is now married and well on her way to what looks like a promising career in law.
Your little sister Daphne is also thriving. She broke her collarbone doing a cartwheel some months ago, but it has fully healed and she completed her end-of-year gymnastics show with flying colours. Aside from gymnastics, she’s all horses, horses, horses. Her current favourite pony at the stables is called Mowgli.
At this stage, it’s been so long since you and I last met that I am slowly starting to believe we may never see each other again. If that should prove to be the case, I just want you to know that I will always think of you. Always and forever.
You know, I was the one who chose the name Daniel, and I chose it because of a famous Irish song that I used to sing to you when you were a baby. It’s a father singing to his son, who has left him. The lyrics go like this:
…But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow,
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow,
Tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh, Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so!
