Dear Brittany

I got looking surfing the internet to send you a nice 19th birthday card. As I got looking I decided that I couldn’t say in a card what I wanted to say to my favorite niece. For me 19 was a significant age I had just lost part of my leg in a hydro accident. I got married when I was 19 and was a father by 20 or 21. Things were different then for sure. I was fortunate to have a well educated Father who had a business. He took me in and taught me how to run a business. He taught me the school way of doing books through to a complete accounting. I was fortunate to have a Mother who loved me so dearly that when things weren’t good in life I found solace in that. Mother said the greatest gift Emmy ever gave me was custody of the kids. Well I didn’t understand at the time but I do now. I don’t want to go on and on, however you come from a strong family which takes care of their own and others.

As children we were given the gift of faith and have a wonderfully strong Catholic Heritage. How fortunate you were able to get to know your Nana a bit, she was a wonderful lady and I attribute Elizabeth’s life and Michelle’s to Nana’s tutoring, however initial love and nurturing was to a large degree Faye’s contribution to their lives. Of course now I can see Liz do the same things with Taryn and Keegan…..it’s interesting that is how we all live forever by what we give through love with no attachment. How would Faye ever know she wouldn’t even live to see this.

You are on your own and an adult now. Some would say a young adult I wouldn’t, you are an adult. We have sent 18 year olds to war to die for us, we become parents at that age and Alexander the Great conquered the known world by age 23 I believe.
So I want you as you start out in your life knowing you are not alone. You have 4 uncles and any number of cousins to whom you are very special because you are one of us. Your Uncle Peter loves you dearly and would do anything for you he could. I want to tell you that “LIFE IS A BANQUET YET MOST OF US OUR STARVING TO DEATH”. You can do anything you choose to do with your life and I am living proof of that as is your Dad. I often say in conversations with Kelly who I know I can speak openly with that every dream I have ever dreamed has come true for me. A little kid from Parry Sound how is that possible, it’s possible Brittany because I would never give in and was fortunate to have a strong believe in God who helped me through my troubled times.

So in closing, I want to tell you I have great admiration for your Dad and both your Mothers. But it is to your standards you must live not to ours. I believe you have developed into a woman who will be strong and leave her mark on life. In our adulthood we will not all be Prime Ministers, Presidents or Kings but we all have to opportunity to change our little part of the world we inhabit for these hopefully 100 years.
I do wish your Nana was alive to see you Brittany she would be so proud of the woman you have become plus you are beautiful and I see a bit of Mother in you all the time. So I wish you the very best on your 19th birthday and happiness throughout your life.

Love you,
Uncle Peter