Submitted by Dr. Robert F. Lane on
CONTINUED: There are times when the intended recipient isn’t physically present, emotionally mature or spiritually receptive enough – yet, and there is the hope that more years of living will bring them to a place of readiness. So some many will write planning for their words to be read six months, a year or many years later: on key birthdays 16, 21, 40 or on the eve of a marriage, year three or four when infatuation is fading and the birth of a child. These letters often described the writer's own experiences at those ages and pass on bits of advice that would be given, if only they could be there.
Open for them a window into some of the things that helped you become you. Tell them about you favorite books from each season of your life and why you loved them, about your favorite music and special experiences that go with it and you favorite places to visit how they moved you and about challenging situations and how you made decisions. Tell them about significant people and special friends and how they influenced you. They need to know where your passions came from - what and who inspired, wounded or nurtured them.
PICTURES ARE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT
Take or find pictures of you being you, especially your expressions and especially you with your kid - not the documentary posed shots, but the impromptu ones where you are engaging with them, tickling, hugging, wrestling, adoring. Do it with a video camera if you can and capture your voice and your laughter. Long after spoken words are forgotten, kids have got to be able to look back and see how much you loved them. You can even put together a treasure of quotations, mottos, scriptures and pictures. Frame some to hang or sit on a bedside table.
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