Dear Jakob,

What big boy you are becoming! Four and a half, so desperate to be five and everyday you proclaim that tomorrow will be your birthday. For your fifth year of life we have moved you all the way to Cambridge, England and you have handled it like a champ! I am so proud of you for being so understanding, so trusting and so brave. You started school, jumping straight into full days, made friends with all of your classmates and your teachers are also so proud of your progress. In just one term you learned to write your name, read and have learned a little bit about the world around you. And while I miss you during the day it makes me so happy knowing that you are having a good time with your friends.You get stickers daily for writing well, reading and understanding all the things they are teaching you about.

Recently, you were learning about the Solar System and Space. You have been really enjoying this and everyday you want to learn about a new planet. I love that you have been so inquisitive and I wanted to encourage you in that so I bought you a book about planets and a model Solar System that you were able to put together and paint with Daddy. You did a great job! I hope your love for learning never dies.

You are also an amazing big brother. You help Ella to walk when we go out and make her laugh all the time. She adores you and I think she hopes, one day, to be just like her big brother. Sometimes she frustrates you because she always wants to be near you. In time, you will come to appreciate each other even more than you do and the bond you will have will keep you both strong in the difficult times. And dear Jakob, there will be difficult times. You may not be aware of Ella’s differences now, but soon, you will realize there is something just a little bit different about your baby sister. This knowledge, however, will make you more understanding, more compassionate and more empathetic towards those individuals whom society casts down and casts out. Ella is a gift from God: a gift to you, a gift to us, as parents and a gift to the world. You just might have to work a little harder to help other people see this. But I know you will. You have a bright spirit and already show yourself to be one of the kindest people I know. You cry when others cry, you help when others need helping and you comfort when others need comforting. I remember one time when I was very upset about something you emphatically said, “I know!” You ran out of the room, only to return with your Smurf doll and said, “this will make you feel better.”

Jakob you are such an amazing little boy. You are a child of God and a messenger of hope and compassion. I look forward to seeing the man you will become!