This book doesn't have an ending yet, and it isn't supposed to.
Every other book in this series was written looking backward, at something already finished. This one is different. It's a running correspondence, written across my son's entire life, added to a little at a time, in real time, as he actually grows instead of reconstructed afterward from memory.
Carl Jr. is three years old as I write this first section. He doesn't know yet that any of this exists. One day he will — old enough to actually read it, maybe old enough to have kids of his own.
This is for you, Carl Jr., whenever you're actually reading it. I hope by the time you do, you already know most of what's in here about yourself. I hope this book just confirms it.
---
## LETTER ONE: WHO YOU ALREADY ARE
Carl Jr.,
Today, you are funny. Genuinely, actually funny — not funny for a kid, just funny. You tell everybody who'll listen that your name is Carl Jr., whether they asked or not.
You are a competitor. You hate to lose, at anything, and you don't hide it or pretend otherwise. You know you're funny. You know you're strong. You show me your little bicep every single day. You measure yourself against the wall every day too, checking to see if you've gotten any taller.
Keep measuring yourself against the wall. Just make sure, as you get older, you're always measuring against who you were yesterday, and never against anyone standing next to you.
I love you.
Dad
This book doesn't have an ending yet, and it isn't supposed to.
Every other book in this series was written looking backward, at something already finished. This one is different. It's a running correspondence, written across my son's entire life, added to a little at a time, in real time, as he actually grows instead of reconstructed afterward from memory.
Carl Jr. is three years old as I write this first section. He doesn't know yet that any of this exists. One day he will — old enough to actually read it, maybe old enough to have kids of his own.
This is for you, Carl Jr., whenever you're actually reading it. I hope by the time you do, you already know most of what's in here about yourself. I hope this book just confirms it.
---
## LETTER ONE: WHO YOU ALREADY ARE
Carl Jr.,
Today, you are funny. Genuinely, actually funny — not funny for a kid, just funny. You tell everybody who'll listen that your name is Carl Jr., whether they asked or not.
You are a competitor. You hate to lose, at anything, and you don't hide it or pretend otherwise. You know you're funny. You know you're strong. You show me your little bicep every single day. You measure yourself against the wall every day too, checking to see if you've gotten any taller.
Keep measuring yourself against the wall. Just make sure, as you get older, you're always measuring against who you were yesterday, and never against anyone standing next to you.
I love you.
Dad
