Response to my daughter’s letter |

Here is my response:

Dear Lola,

Thank you so much for taking the time to write me a letter. Receiving a note from you is one of the best gifts I can get as your father. It always puts a smile on my face and makes me feel great. So thank you again.

I’ve read your letter a few times and I’d like to take a moment and respond. To say your mother’s cooking is like she works at a 5 star restaurant might be a tad bit of an exaggeration. I mean really? What about Tuesday night after basketball practice? What was that? I’m not sure what we were eating. But don’t get me wrong, your mom is awesome and you are super lucky to have her in your life. Give her lots of hugs and kisses because she really likes that.

Also I really appreciate you telling me that I’m really good at playing games. I take pride in that. Life is supposed to be fun. We should try and enjoy every moment we can. And playing games with you is a highlight of my day. I don’t always win, but that’s not where I get the enjoyment anyhow. It’s all about spending time with you. That’s winning.

And thanks for telling me and your mom that we deserve a trip to Africa. I’ve never been. I bet it’s amazing. There’s so much to do there. We could go on a safari, relax on the beach, hike a mountain and go to Egypt and explore the monuments and tombs. It’s a wonderful idea.

Although I’m not sure about getting you a giraffe when we’re there is such a good idea. They cost upwards of $80,000.00 and are extremely difficult to get. There are only approximately 350 giraffes in the United States today and most of those are owned by zoos. Giraffes are wild animals and grow to 16-20 feet tall and weigh an average of 2,628 lbs. Where are you going to put her? And did you know that a giraffe can sprint up to 37 mph over a short distance, and up to 31 mph over several kilometers? We’d have to use my car to chase her if she ever ran away.

The other problem I see is feeding the giraffe. They usually eat about 75 lbs. of foliage a day. I guess the upside to having a giraffe is that I won’t have to rake leaves anymore. But sometimes when making a big decision like this you have to weigh the pros and the cons of your choice. While I would love to not have to rake anymore; I don’t think I could handle the guilty conscious of having a famished giraffe around. Although maybe you could teach the giraffe to eat your mom’s 5 star cooking.

What would we do if the giraffe got sick or needed assistance? It would take a highly skilled veterinarian to work on her. The doctor would need a very specialized workspace to lodge that size of a patient.

I know you would care for a giraffe with all of your heart, but I just don’t think it’s the right decision. While I love you more than life itself, sadly I don’t think we can accommodate your request for bringing you a giraffe from Africa. It has nothing to do with how much I and your mom love you. But sometimes we have to make decisions based on what’s best for other people, the situation at hand or in this case the animal.

Perhaps you will allow me to take you to a toy store and buy you the largest stuffed giraffe they have available.

Thank you again for sending me a letter. It was the best part of my day.

Loving you

Daddy