Emma - Tomorrow is your 1st birthday!

Emma,

Tomorrow is your first birthday!

Mommy still clearly remember that one year ago in tonight ...... almost at right now, mommy started contraction and daddy and mommy went to the hospital in the same night. And the next day at 17:13hrs you came to this beautiful world.

A year is almost past, you have been grown up such a lovely girl! Mommy is very proud for you! There are so many beautiful memories during the first year with 7/24 hours that we spent together. We will celebrate for you together with grandma.

Your future's life will be full of happiness and challenge. Mommy hope you will be always healthy, happy and outstanding.

Happy Birthday to you !!! Mommy LOVE YOU, LOVE YOU AND LOVE YOU!!!

Mommy,
21:50, April 30, 2009
Quispamsis, New Brunswick,
Canada

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Emma,

This letter is a start of a journey. I will write a letter to you on your every birthday until you reach 18 years old. I will learn and work hard to be a good father as you grow. I hope you to become:

* Healthy
* Happy
* Competent

Frankly speaking, I am still learning how to live a good life and how to be more competent at workplace at age 36. Although everyday there are kinds of things people are dealing with, only a few events that happened to them or a few choices that they made affect their whole life. To be specific, the following few things happened to me had an fundamental impact in my life.

* When I was around 10 years old, I was left in an apartment alone in an evening. My parents locked the door from outside before they left. In the evening, there was a comedy movie played at the outdoor movie theater that was just behind the apartment building. I really wanted to watch the movie and sit on the window thinking to jump off and get out. The apartment was on the second floor, probably 6 meters above ground. And there were some bushes on the ground right below the window. At the end, I figured it was too risky to jump off the window at that height. I went back to the room, and did some other things until my parents came back.
* I got poor scores in the junior high school entrance exams. I could not qualify any schools that I applied. I had to accept to be assigned to a school that had not good reputation. When I started my days in the junior high, I was motivated. I started to work hard, be self-discipline, and take the pressure. I was always the top students in the class during the 3 years at the junior high. In the high school entrance exams, I achieved pretty good scores and entered one of the top high schools in Beijing.
* I picked Electrical Engineering as my major when I was in university. Electrical engineering and computer engineering were the only engineering majors that I figured I could handle well and I might have interests in.
* Your mom and I got married. Marriage means share the happiness and hardness with each other, and respect each other.
* Your mom and I moved from China to Canada to start a new life. I still could not answer the question very well, "why you moved to Canada?". But I started to enjoy the life style here. At least we could have a not rich but good quality life. We could spend more time with and pay more attention on you.
* I got a job in the data network field in 2005. This will probably be the profession I will keep doing until my retirement. I quite enjoy what I am doing.

I sincerely hope you have a better life than I have.

What do I want from you? Hmm... I want you look at me and call me "ba ba". ;-)

Happy Birthday, my sweetheart!

Dad