Dear Aidan,
It’s May and you’re a little less than 9 weeks away from entering the cold, hard world. I’ll be doing this a lot over your life, but I’m wishing you the best of luck. I’m sure you’ll rise to the occasion, but you’re also going to have a lot of support. Of course your mother and I will always be here for you, thick or thin, but aside from us, you’ve got a network of family that’s going to back you up whenever you need it—and it’s getting bigger all the time.
In about 5 weeks, your Mom’s cousin is giving birth to a boy of her own. Also, your cousin Ryan turns 1 in August, and your other cousin, Tad, is just a few months older than that, which means you’re going to have lots of kids to play with growing up. There’s also a slew of friends that have kids, but you’ll always be the “baby” of the group with them, so be prepared to get picked on a little, or have them run away while you’re just trying to hang out. Don’t get down on that though, because at some point, they will want to hang out, and being the only boy in a slew of girls, you’ll be REAL popular.
Back on the family for a bit, you’ll find out soon enough that your family is HUGE, really, almost out of control big, 95% of which is your Mom’s side. The family tree is pretty convoluted, but now that I’m finally getting a handle on all the names, I’m finding it pretty cool to have all these people around. Get-togethers are something to behold. Mom knows she’s got a big family, but she doesn’t give it much thought because she grew up with it, but it really is astounding to me because my side of the family is so much smaller, especially these days.
The truth is, I don’t talk to one side of my family much anymore. It’s a really complicated story, and I’m not going to go into too much detail now, but I promise to tell you the whole thing one day. What is important is that even though I don’t have much family, I have some of the best friends a guy could have. They’re like brothers to me, so they will be like uncles to you. There’s also your grandparents, both on mine and mom’s side, who will almost assuredly spoil the hell out of you.
I guess what I’m saying is that no matter what happens in your life, no matter what happens to your mom and I , you got people.
