The Budget of Paradox

Sophia,
For your 13th birthday, I sent you a $200 gift card to The Fresh Market. I had seen photos of you helping you mom cook. I thought maybe you liked to cook. It was just a guess. I wanted to get you a gift I thought you might like. I wrote you a letter and encouraged you to go shopping and try to cook something new.

You never wrote back. I have no idea if you ever got it.

Anyway, I suggested that you learn to cook a proper steak sandwich. Your mom used to like them back when we were married. I didn’t know how to cook steak back then. Learning how to properly cook steak is something I’ve learned living on my own.

I encouraged you to try Gordon Ramsay’s idea of a steak sandwich.

But now, I encourage you to try Guga’s idea of a steak sandwich. I haven’t made this version myself yet, but I will soon. I really like Guga’s ideas. If you need more money to go grocery shopping, let me know.

I wish I knew you better. Maybe you hate to cook. Maybe you like something else instead. I wish I knew. I hope you have a hobby that you’re passionate about; something that intrigues you and draws you in. Whatever it is, I hope you can be really good at it. Having a hobby is important, especially if it’s completely different from your “day job”.

Eighty years ago, the emperor of Japan was a man named Hirohito. He was a statesman, a military officer, and he had university degrees in economics and philosophy. But in his spare time, he studied – of all things – marine biology. He even built a small laboratory in his house. For a few very specific aspects of marine biology, he was the world’s foremost expert. He even published a few papers. No one paid him; he never had a job as a marine biologist. It was his hobby; his way of staying sane: perfection, patience, passion.

I hope you become really good at something.

Missing you, Dad