Category: Dear Daniel

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!

Dear Daniel,

I find myself thinking of you especially today, as the sun shines on yet another March the 17th. St. Patrick’s Day is the saint day of the patron saint of Ireland, and although you may not know it, you should remember that you are Irish too.

Who knows? The day may come when you and I will walk together through the green fields of Ireland and feel the gentle rain against our faces, before tucking in, somewhere, to a bowl of chowder and a pint of Guinness.

In the meantime: be well, my son. May the road rise to meet your feet, and may the wind be always at your back.

Love,

Dad

Dear Daniel,

I hope you had a wonderful summer and are ready to go back to school.

The back to school season is an exciting time. A chance to meet up with old friends and a chance to meet new ones. I always found that although you are back in the same environment, somehow everything is changed. Because of course, you have changed – with new experiences and ideas learned over the summer break.

Our summer was wonderful – lots of swimming in the sea and lakes, horseriding for your sister, good food and a chance to catch up on books (I post reviews of all the books I read on this blog, so you can always see my reading list).

Now it’s time to get back to work.

I am thinking of you and missing you, as always.

Love,

Dad

Dear Daniel,

Hello my son! Just wanted to reach out to you in this first week of Lent and send to you my best Lenten wishes.

In our faith, Jesus enters the desert on Ash Wednesday and walks for 40 days. This period is of course symbolic of sacrifice and – in a sense – purification in the face of temptation / trial.

The gospel according to Luke tells us that when J.C. enters the desert, the devil tempts him with three trials. In the first, the devil asks him to turn a stone into bread (then break his fast). J.C.’s iconic answer is: “Man shall not live on bread alone.”

The second trial has the devil taking J.C. to a high place, where the devil offers Him all the lands of the earth, if only He would bow down to the devil. Our hero J.C. shoots back: “Worship your Lord the God and serve only him.”

The final trial has the Bad-Guy-in-Chief telling J.C. to throw himself off a tower and command his legion of angels to catch him before he falls. J.C.’s response? “I answer only to my Dad’s commands. Not yours, pal.”

I was listening to this on Sunday at Mass, and it occurred to me that the three trials in Luke’s account of Lent correspond to three of the seven deadly sins:

The first is gluttony.

The second is greed.

And the third is pride.

And it so perfectly matches the core message of Christianity that the true path out of sin is faith alone in God. So I said a prayer that God forgive me for my own sins. And a little prayer for all the people I love.

Have a wonderful Lent and a delicious and fun Easter.

Love,

Dad

Dear Daniel,

Merry Christmas! I hope that through the gloom of the dark winter the joy of Christmas is shining brightly upon you.

I have always loved Christmas, for many reasons. First, because it is the birth of Jesus, a baby who comes into this world to give us new hope and to save us from our sins. I believe that even those who are most sinful can find a path to justice, and Christmas is the start of that path.

But I also love Christmas as a pagan holiday. It is perfectly timed, just after the Winter Solstice (December 21st), to symbolise the time in the year when the days are getting brighter and spring is coming (the ‘Yuletide’). You can’t feel it, but it is coming, and the world will be renewed again!

Finally, I love Christmas because it is a time for family to come together. Of course, in your case, it means I miss you. But it has been nice spending time with your sister Daphne. And I hope you have been loved and have been able to love this Yuletide.

So Happy Christmas, my lovely son. I love you,

Dad

Dear Daniel,

I hope the summer is going well – despite the very mixed weather we’ve been having!

We’re making the best of it. The garden at home is struggling – I managed to harvest only about half the potatoes I thought I would, but it’s still a good result, given how much rain we had. The tomatoes (Jo is looking after them) are in a worse state, but that’s also because we went away for a week in May.

Right now I am in Ireland with your sister Daphne, who is with her friend Isidore doing a pony camp. We are in a place called Leitrim, a wild, beautiful part of Ireland where however it rains quite a lot! Isidore’s dad is cycling around Ireland as we speak (he’s a former champion cyclist) and his mom is working from the cottage next to me here.

I’m sad to hear that you don’t want to see me, and also that you are not interested in meeting Daphne, who talks about you all the time and is – frankly – determined to get to know you sooner or later. You will have a hard time not meeting her, I’m afraid, as she has a strong character and works busily at getting what she wants. (Sometimes that is a challenge, I can tell you!)

But most of all, I wish you well and send you my continued love. Please know that whatever happens, I will always be here for you, the day you decide to take the leap and get to know me.

Love,

Dad

Cher Daniel,

Joyeux Noël, mon fils. Je me retrouve en Angleterre avec Joanna ma femme et ta sœur Daphné. Ta sœur Anna est en Mexique avec son petit-ami.

Encore des fêtes que je sais pas partager avec toi!

En tout cas, je te souhaite de beaux cadeaux (je t’ai envoyé un petit quelquechose) et de la joie.

Bonne annee

Dear Daniel,

I am writing to you in English in the hope that you will have learned some English at school by now and can read this.

The summer is over! I hope you had a nice break and got plenty of sunshine (but not too much heat!) in Southern Europe. We avoided going south this year because the heat is just too much. Instead, I took your sister horseriding in Ireland and we visited England and also Normandy. We also went camping in the Ardennes (which is full of Dutch people).

Anyway, now it’s back to school. I hope you have a great start to the year – good teachers or at least tolerable teachers – and that you are enjoying seeing your friends again.

As always, I think of you a lot – especially when I am doing things like cutting wood or building the woodshed at home. It makes me a little sad that I can’t do these things with you, as a father really should.

Maybe one day.

Meanwhile, all the best from me.

Love,

Dad

Well, here I am, writing to you again so soon.

I’m back home now after my trip to the USA. It was eventful and good to see your grandfather, who seems to be on a real path to recovery (fingers crossed). But after all that, it’s quiet in the house again – we got a little bit of a cold that is going around, so we’re hunkered down.

So I just wanted to send a quick message to wish you a happy birthday and to let you know that, as always, I am thinking of you.

My you must be getting big! – nearly heading into your teenage years! An exciting time lies ahead, with lots of fun and adventures, I am sure.

One day, I know we’ll have a chance to talk about all the great things you have been living. Until then, I am you loving father,

Dad