GREETINGS FROM IRAQ

Hi kids!

I just wanted to say hello from overseas. As you've read in the newspapers, things are heating up over here. This might be the last you will here from me for a while, but I don't want you to worry. Daddy will be coming home soon, I promise. That being said, I've taken this week's letter to write to you about something different.

I am certain that everyone's children will ask them this at one point. Ever since you've asked me this I've wondered about how to say it. I could say we knew who each other were for most of high school and never talked, I could say she was always bound to be the girl next door, and I could say it was random chance. After all that time of thinking the best way of relating it to you, I realized how simple it really was to tell you correctly how your mother and I met in terms you'll understand for all your years.

Your mother and I met the way you'll meet the first person you will like. When a girl first gives you a light kiss on the cheek in junior high, that is your mother and I. Your first real kiss will be just as ours was. You'll have your first love as we met each other. And your high school sweetheart will be as we were.

The truth is, if I simply explained our love to you, it wouldn't sound any different than any love movie, story at school, or anything about love you've heard, and your mom and I make comparisons like that ourselves. All the loves you experience are what we have. Love is all the same, it just matters how you treat it.

Those feelings you will get, don't dwell on how long they'll last or any of the details. Live your life and concentrate on love, and that's all you'll need. Anyone you ever love will have the potential to be the love of your life, and I want you to face every experience you have knowing. Enjoy every experience, because they will all be the loves of your lives. And know that through all the experiences you have, I will be there with you.

I love you kids.
-Daddy

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