The Letter

Chapter 2

I love my girls. They are the best things in my life. They are the gift that Trisha left me when she died. A gift that I am thankful for every day that I wake and each evening before I go to sleep. When Trisha and I had talked about having kids, I thought that they would come into our lives and we would love them but I never knew how important that they would be to me. I couldn’t imagine my life without them. The moment I saw Emma for the first time, I realized that I was no longer living for myself. There was someone else, an innocent totally dependent person and what I did in life would affect her. I vowed to Emma as I held her that I would always be there for her and love and support her at each turn in her life. It became more relevant when Trisha died and I was all that they had.

Emma, my beautiful girl who was getting lost in her desire not to be a child any longer but uncertain how to be a teenager. She is a miniature version of Trisha and each day, I see more and more similarities between her and her mother. She is smart, artistic, and athletic. I don’t think she’s met a challenge that she hasn’t taken head on whether it was academically, artistically or with her friends. She is a kind kid. One who loves completely those that she loves. She is probably the best big sister there ever was. Her patience and love of Alyssa has no limits.

Alyssa is my sweet quiet baby who is still trying to find herself. She’s tiny. I had her tested to make sure that there were no medical problems and they say she’s just small. She has a lot of fears. She doesn’t have the confidence that Emma has. She is sensitive and we have to often watch our words around her because she doesn’t understand that we are joking and would never make fun of her. Her biggest current fear is her fear of the dark. She tries her hardest to hide it by falling asleep on the couch and having me carry her to bed so that she is already asleep when she gets in her room. She has yet to catch on that Em invites her to sleep in her room because she knows and wants to protect her from her fears. When she is in Em’s room, she sleeps like a baby. I know that she will eventually outgrow her fears but it saddens me to think that she even has them and I can’t protect her from them. I would do anything to take them away and allow her to just be a happy little girl.