Dearest A.J.,
Last night you asked me a question that totally caught me off guard. You asked me what your mother had been like. I knew that the day you would ask that would come one day, but I really didn't expect it so soon.
I first met your mother at school. It was after the Joe team disbanded and I decided to go ahead and go to medical school. I was late for class that morning, and so was she. I literally bumped into her and we both rolled down the stairs. Neither one of us was injured other than an occasional bruise, but our books had managed to combine and make a huge mess.
Her notes got mixed up with mine, and it would have taken us a while to figure out which notes belonged to who, so I invited her out for coffee after classes to go through them, and divide them up. She accepted.
We went down to the local coffeehouse where we sat and talked for a couple of hours after going through our notes and getting them settled. I found out that she had had a hard background, and was putting herself through school.
Neither one of her parents had wanted her, and she had been thrown out when she was barely eight years old. I don't know how she did it, but she had the discipline to put herself through school and graduate.
She had just gotten through getting dumped by a real jerk of a boyfriend (I met the guy. He really WAS an idiot.), and she was having trouble in one of our classes because of it. I offered to tutor her and only that, and once again, she accepted my offer.
Soon after I started tutoring her, I discovered that I wanted more. I wanted her to be my girlfriend. I held back on asking her because I knew that she needed time to get over the jerkwad.
When I felt like she was ready, I asked her out on a date. She surprised me by telling me that she was just about to ask me the same thing. We went out to dinner and then we went dancing.
A year later, after we started dating seriously, I knew that she was the one. I can remember her face so clearly that night that I proposed to her.
I had made reservations at one of our favorite little cafés, and I told them what I was going to do. They helped me tremendously. The table that we had was in a back corner away from all the noise and bustle.
I had bought a single red rose for her and when I gave it to her she started crying. She was unprepared for what came next. When she suddenly realized what I was up to, I knew that she understood.
I got down on one knee and I asked her to marry me. It didn't take her anytime to think about it. She said yes immediately.
I had even called her ex-boyfriend and he was there at the time. I saw the look of satisfaction in her eyes as she saw him. It was almost as if she were saying "Ha Ha. You ignorant fool. Now you've gone and lost the best thing you ever had to another man."
Six months later, we were married. I remember seeing her at the end of the aisle and what happened next could have ruined the wedding, but she dealt with it so swiftly that I was stunned.
Her father had grudgingly agreed to give her away because, you see, she still loved her family even though they hated her. That's the kind of woman she was.
Well, to get back to the story, she was at the end of the aisle and her father just dumped her hard. She didn't even stop to try and figure out what was going on like the rest of us; she just instantly began to walk herself down the aisle.
When her parents stood up and started giving reasons that we shouldn't or couldn't get married, I'll never forget the bleakness in her eyes. I knew that they were dredging up her past in order to hurt her future.
They told me that she was not a virgin and all this other stuff that had happened in her past, and all I could do was smile. What they didn't know was that six weeks before the wedding, she had sat me down and told me about it all. This was nothing new to me.
After they realized that they weren't going to disrupt the wedding, they got up and rushed out. From then on everything was perfect.
A few months later, I knew that she wasn't feeling right. I made her an appointment at her doctor' s office and went to school as if nothing was going on. When I got home that day, she was in the kitchen making dinner and wearing a bright red shirt that said "Don't Panic".
I looked at her as she dropped the knife that she was using and ran to the bathroom to throw up. It suddenly dawned on me what the shirt meant. I followed her and asked her about it and she confirmed that yes, she was indeed pregnant. Then she hit me with the double whammy- it was twins.
I sat down hard on the floor, laughing. I could see two things were obvious. One, she was exhausted and two, the smell of food was making her sick to her stomach. So I did what any gallant husband would do, I told her to go take a nap while I finished dinner. Big mistake. I forgot how much of a kitchen disaster I was. I could live on my cooking, but I wasn't sure if anyone else could.
She wasn't able to keep much of it down, so from then until the morning sickness subsided, we ate out.
I watched her belly swell with you and your twin brother and I knew deep down inside that life for me was perfect. I graduated from med school and was in my residency when she went into labor one night.
I remember when she rolled over and shook my shoulder. I was never a deep sleeper, and I was wide-awake when she did that. She was just coming back from the bathroom when she told me that it was time.
I didn't panic. I just calmly got her and her bags into the car and drove to the hospital. She kept saying I drove like a maniac that night, but I don't remember.
She was in labor for about ten hours before they wound up having to take the two of you by cesarean section. Edwin Christopher Steen, Jr., came screaming into this world just moment before you joined him doing the same exact thing.
I remember them telling me that I had a son and a daughter, and that's all I remember for a little while until I woke up on a hospital bed myself, and they told me that I had fainted.
From the beginning the two of you had me wrapped around those little fingers tightly. Very tightly. My father and I reconciled after I realized what had caused him to be the way that he was with my sister and I.
Deep down, I always knew that he loved me, no matter what.
I'll let you go now, little one. And if you ever need to ask me anything, go ahead. That's what I'm here for.
Love, Daddy
Last night you asked me a question that totally caught me off guard. You asked me what your mother had been like. I knew that the day you would ask that would come one day, but I really didn't expect it so soon.
I first met your mother at school. It was after the Joe team disbanded and I decided to go ahead and go to medical school. I was late for class that morning, and so was she. I literally bumped into her and we both rolled down the stairs. Neither one of us was injured other than an occasional bruise, but our books had managed to combine and make a huge mess.
Her notes got mixed up with mine, and it would have taken us a while to figure out which notes belonged to who, so I invited her out for coffee after classes to go through them, and divide them up. She accepted.
We went down to the local coffeehouse where we sat and talked for a couple of hours after going through our notes and getting them settled. I found out that she had had a hard background, and was putting herself through school.
Neither one of her parents had wanted her, and she had been thrown out when she was barely eight years old. I don't know how she did it, but she had the discipline to put herself through school and graduate.
She had just gotten through getting dumped by a real jerk of a boyfriend (I met the guy. He really WAS an idiot.), and she was having trouble in one of our classes because of it. I offered to tutor her and only that, and once again, she accepted my offer.
Soon after I started tutoring her, I discovered that I wanted more. I wanted her to be my girlfriend. I held back on asking her because I knew that she needed time to get over the jerkwad.
When I felt like she was ready, I asked her out on a date. She surprised me by telling me that she was just about to ask me the same thing. We went out to dinner and then we went dancing.
A year later, after we started dating seriously, I knew that she was the one. I can remember her face so clearly that night that I proposed to her.
I had made reservations at one of our favorite little cafés, and I told them what I was going to do. They helped me tremendously. The table that we had was in a back corner away from all the noise and bustle.
I had bought a single red rose for her and when I gave it to her she started crying. She was unprepared for what came next. When she suddenly realized what I was up to, I knew that she understood.
I got down on one knee and I asked her to marry me. It didn't take her anytime to think about it. She said yes immediately.
I had even called her ex-boyfriend and he was there at the time. I saw the look of satisfaction in her eyes as she saw him. It was almost as if she were saying "Ha Ha. You ignorant fool. Now you've gone and lost the best thing you ever had to another man."
Six months later, we were married. I remember seeing her at the end of the aisle and what happened next could have ruined the wedding, but she dealt with it so swiftly that I was stunned.
Her father had grudgingly agreed to give her away because, you see, she still loved her family even though they hated her. That's the kind of woman she was.
Well, to get back to the story, she was at the end of the aisle and her father just dumped her hard. She didn't even stop to try and figure out what was going on like the rest of us; she just instantly began to walk herself down the aisle.
When her parents stood up and started giving reasons that we shouldn't or couldn't get married, I'll never forget the bleakness in her eyes. I knew that they were dredging up her past in order to hurt her future.
They told me that she was not a virgin and all this other stuff that had happened in her past, and all I could do was smile. What they didn't know was that six weeks before the wedding, she had sat me down and told me about it all. This was nothing new to me.
After they realized that they weren't going to disrupt the wedding, they got up and rushed out. From then on everything was perfect.
A few months later, I knew that she wasn't feeling right. I made her an appointment at her doctor' s office and went to school as if nothing was going on. When I got home that day, she was in the kitchen making dinner and wearing a bright red shirt that said "Don't Panic".
I looked at her as she dropped the knife that she was using and ran to the bathroom to throw up. It suddenly dawned on me what the shirt meant. I followed her and asked her about it and she confirmed that yes, she was indeed pregnant. Then she hit me with the double whammy- it was twins.
I sat down hard on the floor, laughing. I could see two things were obvious. One, she was exhausted and two, the smell of food was making her sick to her stomach. So I did what any gallant husband would do, I told her to go take a nap while I finished dinner. Big mistake. I forgot how much of a kitchen disaster I was. I could live on my cooking, but I wasn't sure if anyone else could.
She wasn't able to keep much of it down, so from then until the morning sickness subsided, we ate out.
I watched her belly swell with you and your twin brother and I knew deep down inside that life for me was perfect. I graduated from med school and was in my residency when she went into labor one night.
I remember when she rolled over and shook my shoulder. I was never a deep sleeper, and I was wide-awake when she did that. She was just coming back from the bathroom when she told me that it was time.
I didn't panic. I just calmly got her and her bags into the car and drove to the hospital. She kept saying I drove like a maniac that night, but I don't remember.
She was in labor for about ten hours before they wound up having to take the two of you by cesarean section. Edwin Christopher Steen, Jr., came screaming into this world just moment before you joined him doing the same exact thing.
I remember them telling me that I had a son and a daughter, and that's all I remember for a little while until I woke up on a hospital bed myself, and they told me that I had fainted.
From the beginning the two of you had me wrapped around those little fingers tightly. Very tightly. My father and I reconciled after I realized what had caused him to be the way that he was with my sister and I.
Deep down, I always knew that he loved me, no matter what.
I'll let you go now, little one. And if you ever need to ask me anything, go ahead. That's what I'm here for.
Love, Daddy