Dear Katelyn

	Wow, what a whirlwind, eh? You were six when I met you for the first time. That toothless little blonde girl behind the kitchen trash can, hiding from the big, scary new guy her mother invited in. It didn't take you long to warm up to me at all. I felt like from day one, before your mom and I even got married, you were my daughter. It just took us longer to meet than most parents and their kids. The world calls you my stepdaughter, but not me. I've only ever referred to you as my daughter, and always will.

	Parents try to say they love all their kids the same, but it's not true. We love all our kids just as much, but not the same, how could we? We all share a different set of stories, different personalities, and different experiences. I love you in a way I could never love anyone else, just as I love your siblings in a way I could never love you. Sometimes that doesn't always get understood, but I've never kept it a secret. I hope I can explain it correctly. This doesn't diminish my love for any of you. It strengthens my love for each of you individually. I get to tell you that you are special, and that you are the only one I love this way because it is true.

	You have always been just a little bit fragile. Not in a bad way, in the way a father wants his daughter to be. Someone he can hold and protect. The way you saw the world as a child is the way all children should see the world. You carried with you an innocence that no one should ever lose, and you did it in circumstances that most would assume couldn't have worked. Where most people saw naivety I saw and still see wonder and beauty. Jesus says no one will see the kingdom of God unless they see it through the eyes of a child. He did not mean that in a bad way, and neither do I. You have the eyes of a child. Where others see the inevitable you see the potential, and you don't just look at it you awe at it. That innocence of thought has brought me more joy than I could ever express to you. This is why I can say things to you like "I like bad music like I like getting my nose stuck in the door" or "I eat rocks" and you will laugh not look puzzled. We know what moments are tied to those phrases, and no one else even needs to know.

	When you met me, not unlike Brittany, I was a young man. I was still figuring out the world. I had no children of my own, and the experiences I had with them as an uncle were not what anyone would call fatherly. You were my first shot at fatherhood, and you didn't even notice how bad I was at it. Where others saw an inevitable disaster, you saw someone who wanted to be your dad, and you let me be that. Without you, I might never have been a father. You reminded me that I loved children, and that I was my best when I was around them. You made me learn to play again, and brought back my childlike imagination in ways that didn't just remind me how, but made me better at being a child's best friend. This is something too many adults lose. We get old and we think we can't be the friend and the parent, and this could not be any further from the truth. You stripped away the façade of adulthood and brought back an innocence in myself I forgot I had ever lost.

	When we talk you always talk about how you love the goofy things I would do to wake you up in the morning, and the fun things we would do together. It's funny to me that probably until now you didn't know that you are the reason I was able to be that man. You don't remember who I was before you because you with your fragile innocence saw me, who I wanted to be for you, and made me what you needed. Not only that, you made me what Brittany needed, and what Jayden would need. You made me a father, you made me your father.

	There was a short but painful time for us, when you got older and you started to see the world with adult eyes. I was scared, and thought it might destroy you and all we had become. We both know what was said, and what was done, and we will not revisit it. Not because we are ignoring it, but because it doesn't matter. What you taught me that I hold as the highest lesson I've learned is that innocence is not lost, it's buried, and a child can dig it out. It didn't take you long to get your eyes back, and when you did the first person you looked for was me, and I made sure no matter how far away I was I would be there for you.

	Look at you now, my little girl a mommy. But not just any mommy. You're Waylon's mommy. I have no doubt he will teach you as much and more than you taught me. You will love him in a way that you will never love anyone else and he will love you the same. If there is any one thing I want you to remember it is not to bury your innocence. Keep looking at the world as a child sees it. Remain in awe at all its potential, teach your children what you can, but more importantly learn what your children will teach you. Then when they are old enough, tell them about it.

	I love you, you are my blood regardless what the world thinks, and I will never forget what you did for me.

	- Love Dad