Dear Arianna, February 7, 2013

Dear Arianna,
    Your old Daddy had a nice rebound in school tonight.  After a disastrous test on Tuesday, I studied and practiced for the next two days and got a 100% on my test tonight.  It was a relief.  I really thought that I was not going to be able to comprehend the material and was considering dropping the class, even if that meant losing the money that I had paid for it.  Both your Mommy and my friend Rick pushed me through and through hard work and support, things are looking better.  Now, I will still be very happy when I am done with this class, but now I think that I can look back at it with a sense of accomplishment and not of failure   I guess a lesson to be learned here is to keep pushing forward even when things seem very dark and sometimes you will make it to the other end of the tunnel.

My Dreamer

    It is impossible to put into words how much it helps to have good family and friends to support you and keep you going when things are down.  Don't surround yourself with people who drag you down.  These people aren't real friends.  As you go through life, I want you to always try to be the best person you are capable of being.  Before I met your Mommy, I think that I gave up on things too easily.  When life presented an obstacle, I would cower and cave in because I didn't believe in myself.  Sometimes you need that little push to keep you going forward.  I still have anxiety attacks, and sometimes they can overwhelm me, just as they did on Tuesday.  But a good friend help me to put this single test in perspective, and then pushed me with test question after test question the next two days, and your Mommy told me that I was smart enough to figure it out, and they were both right.  You are going to have some real challenges as you grow and learn.  Please know that Mommy and I are always here to help you and support you, and sometimes push you to do something that you want to give up on.
    Please know, I don't have any regrets about the journey my life has taken to this point.  Once in a while I do wonder what would have happened if I had turned left instead of right at certain intersections of my life, especially when it came to college.  To do so is only human.  But then I like to think that God, Fate, Time, or whatever sometimes has a plan for us.  If I had made other choices, or stuck to Beloit College instead of giving up, I would have never ended up at UIC, never met your Mommy, and you would not be here.  And a world which doesn't have Arianna Nelson in it would be a much lesser place.


Love,
Daddy