Parents and children

Case,

It's the last night of our visit to Chicago. We're sharing the remaining few hours with your Grandma and Grandpa Pallister over way too much Chinese food. You're currently mesmerized by a colorful snowman figurine your Aunt Patti got for you (Thanks, Patti!).

As I mentioned earlier, this visit marked the first time your Grandpa Pallister met you. He's 80 now, and he can't travel. In the year since I last saw him, he's lost about 50 pounds. It's tough to see the strongest man you've ever known look so frail. But seeing you made him happy beyond words, happier than I've ever seen him. Ditto for your Grandma Pallister, who was overjoyed to see you again. She's 78 and doesn't get around like she used to, but you'd never know it from the hectic schedule she keeps. She truly is a wonder.

Anyway, I just wanted to "introduce" you a little more to the two people who are responsible for making me the man who loves you with all my heart and will do whatever it takes to make sure you grow up happy. As they have always done for me, I will put your needs first, and no
sacrifice will be too big. They have lived for me and your aunts and uncles, as I now live for you.

Before I sign off, I will leave you with a letter I wrote to your Grandma and Grandpa Pallister late last night, as I sat in a darkened room alone, smiling at the thought of what they meant to me and crying at the thought of them having limited opportunities to watch you grow into the funny, smart, strong boy I know you will be.

Mom & Dad,

I know I have not always been the best son, but I think I've become a good man. And I'm going to need to be, as the greatest challenge of my life, that of parenthood, lies ahead of me.

I am ready to meet that challenge because of who I am, and who I am I owe entirely to you. You have taught me through example the value of hard work and sacrifice and the meaning of unconditional love. It's those lessons that will guide me in raising Case.

This visit has been wonderful, but all too brief and intensely bittersweet. 

Dad, seeing the smile on your face when I placed Case in your arms for the first time is an image I will carry with me forever. And Mom, watching you interact with him is priceless. Yet those moments also are heartbreaking.

I desperately want you to watch Case grow up, and I want him to experience so much of that unconditional love that shaped my life, even to this day. But ultimately, time and circumstance will limit those opportunities.

I know you have always been proud of me for making my own way in life. Even so, it's always been a little tough to return to my latest job and latest home -- no matter how much practice I've gotten over the years. Now, however, with a beautiful grandson and the heavy burden of mortality thrown into the mix, I feel I'm letting you down. I know that you, of all people, understand I'm doing what I need to do for my family. After all, that's what you taught me. But I still feel a sense of guilt because you've always been there for me, and I feel as if I'm abandoning you.

I could never repay you for everything you've done and continue to do for me. But I promise I will do my best to raise Case the way you raised me so that your legacies will live on with him and the man he becomes.

Love,
Matt