Letters to Jack: Your Third Fall.

Jack,

Life with you is so slow and so fast. How are you almost three, how has that time passed so quickly? But how have you only been around for such a short time? How has time gone so slow that I feel like I’ve had you for always? How is it already your third fall? How is it only your third fall? 

This fall has been so full. First of all, you say all of the things! You learned what a pumpkin was, and after a trip to the pumpkin patch where you picked out “Jack’s pumpkin,” you deem every pumpkin you see “Jack’s pumpkin.” You painted a pumpkin this year and were a huge fan of that. 

It’s crazy to look back and see how far you’ve come since last fall. How much you’ve changed, how many new things you can say and do. It’s so much fun. 

You said a big  H E C K  N O  to every Halloween costume we tried this year, but that’s okay. You had fun anyway. I taught you the words “trick-or-treat” by standing in the kitchen and dropping candy in your bucket every time you said it. You only said it a few times while actually trick-or-treating, but every single day since you’ve brought me candy and said, “Jack’s trick-or-treat, pleaseeeeee!” It is precious and it melts me and you’ve eaten entirely too much chocolate. I guess I kind of set myself up for that one.

I hope that the love of fall I’m trying to teach you is something you keep your whole life. I hope when the weather starts cooling down and the air turns chilly in the mornings, it makes you happy to be alive, always. I hope you always laugh your way through pumpkin patches and eat way too much Halloween candy. I hope the words “Trick-or-treat!” always bring a smile to your face. 

I hope that when you look back at pictures of this fall, even if you might not remember it, that you feel overwhelming love. Because you are so overwhelmingly loved. 

It’s the most wonderful season, and you make it so much more so. 

I love you. 

always, 

me