DEAR AMY,

WED. 7-28-99

1210 HOURS

I AM SITTING AT YOUR DESK LISTENING TO GORDON LIGHTFOOT CD WRITING YOU A LETTER. IT IS SO HARD TO KEEP FROM BEING INTERRUPTED BY PHONE CALLS & PEOPLE. YOU KNOW ME, I DON'T LIKE IT WHEN I AM BUSY DOING SOMETHING IMPORTANT & PEOPLE CALL OR COME OVER & BUG ME. I KNOW THINGS HAVE BEEN ROUGH & TOUGH ON YOU IN ALL AREAS. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?? YOU'RE TOUGHER & ROUGHER & BETTER THAN THE SITUATION YOU ARE IN. I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT. I KNOW YOU PRAY & KEEP A PRAYER IN YOUR HEART ALL THE TIME, SO DO WE. SEVEN MORE WEEKS & YOU'RE OUT OF BOOT CAMP. YOU HAVE A GREAT FUTURE AHEAD OF YOU WITH A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR AN EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE & GROWTH. REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU WHEN YOU LEFT? BE BRAVE. I KNOW IT'S HARD BUT HANG TOUGH. WORK HARD, PRAY HARD & STAY FOCUSED ON YOUR GOAL. WE LOVE YOU AND SUPPORT YOU ALL THE WAY. I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU & LOVE YOU. GIVE 'EM HELL KID.

LOVE, YOUR FATHER

First, yes, my father writes in all capital letters, thus the reason for all caps.

This was the only letter I recieved from my father while I was in bootcamp. I seldom heard my dad say he was proud of me, nor did he tell me he loved me much growing up, though I always knew he did love me and that I had made him proud somehow. He was gone, at work on the train, most of my life. I knew it had to be done. I came across this tonight as I started packing up things. I keep it close by and read it now and again to remind me of how far I've come in so many aspects in my life. Much like my "special" blessing, this one rings true even today. I see this life as my mortal bootcamp. To see how I'm going to fare and prove faithful. I hope my graduation leads to celestial mansions.