Hey Pete! 5/29/18

Hey Pete! Its your dad again; I'm gonna try to keep this journaling thing going for you. I heard something on NPR recently about a dad that gave his 18 year old daughter a journal he kept during the first 5 years of her life, just writing about how she was progressing as well as the things going on in her parents lives and the world, and man does that sound like such a neat thing to give your kid. So I'm going to attempt to journal for you! So today is Tuesday, May 29th; you have been one year old for 17 days already! Sheesh that whole year just flew by. You recently got your first haircut (which was traumatic for you); you are walking pretty confidently now, but when you see a large distance between where you are and where you want to be, you decide that crawling is the fastest and best way to get there (also, you are a bit shy, and your crawling habits come back when you are around people you don't know); you are also starting to climb. Mostly just to get onto the couch, but you are discovering that you can use things around the house as improvised "steps" to get you to higher places you couldn't get to before, so all that being said, its obvious that you are just all kinds of trouble. Your mom and I have babyproofed the apartment we live in as far as "Phase 1" of life with Peter is concerned. Phase 1 consisted mostly of finding means to block you off from things and places we didn't want you to have access to, namely the staircase to the 2nd floor and the kitchen. Our apartment consists of 3 floors; the main floor has a living room, a connected dining room, and a kitchen which is small and is accessed by a doorframe shaped opening. In the kitchen is a staircase that leads to the basement, and right inside the main door to our apartment is the staircase to our two bedrooms and bathroom on the 2nd floor. You are mostly confined to the living and dining room to do as you please, which you are more than happy with, and in one single year you have gained so much skill at messmaking. Often times we will wake up, and I will let you loose in the living room while I get some coffee going, and by the time my back is turned you have pulled a majority of your toys off of the shelves and spread them throughout the room. Speaking of toys; one of the funniest things about you so far is your strange, confounding love of organizing and stacking. There are all kinds of toys of varying shapes and sizes, and often times you will busy yourself "organizing" them in ways that only make sense to you. You will put a bunch of toys in a basket, then immediately take them out, one by one, to empty the basket again, and then reorganize the toys into the basket, sometimes omitting one or two toys and adding others. Its really fun to watch. * * * * * * * * Well, to get into my life with and without you; Right now, I am a shift manager at Starbucks, and your mom is the manager of a different store. Recently, some bad things happened that Starbucks decided to take responsibility for and use as a learning opportunity for the entire company. A few months ago, two black men went into a Starbucks in Pennsylvania and had the police called on them, and they were removed from the store in handcuffs. It was a very sad and unfortunate thing to happen two these two gentleman. So today, every Starbucks closed business from 2:30pm on, so that its partners could have a meeting to address racism and bias. I won't get into all the details about the meeting, but it was a very rewarding and emotional experience to be a part of. The biggest advice I could give you as far as bias and prejudice and, basically, fear is concerned, is to me a pretty basic and fundamental approach to life in general. Always expect the best out of people, whether you have known them for years or are just meeting them for the first time. Make eye contact with every person you come in close contact with, and make the act of holding their gaze be a wordless way of expressing that you are completely present in their presence; the further technology seems to advance, the easier it is to find ways to find yourself in the presence of others but absorbed in your own personal devices and distractions, and leaving those distractions behind to truly share even just a moment of personal connection is a special thing that seems to be becoming a lost art. I can't remember where I heard it, but I remember a wise person explain that the way they approached life and people, is by pretending everyone you meet is an old friend that you haven't seen in a long time. You're going to meet a lot of people in your life, and looking someone in the eye and being genuine in your time spent with them will affect people in a very positive way. This is a pretty hefty subject, so I will probably have to return to it. But I got the ball rolling on this journaling stuff! I'm hoping to be able to devote 30-60 min a night to this; wish me luck. Love, Dad