The Budget of Paradox

Sophia:
Happy Birthday. I had some flowers delivered on the day. I hope you got them. Obligatory reminiscing: I remember your birth very well. I was there. I remember the events of the day. I have video from when you just a few minutes old. In the video, I can hear your mom and the nurses talking. Pappa Bear was there. It’s strange to hear his voice now.

I hope your Thanksgiving was enjoyable or at least bearable. I didn’t do anything. It’s not celebrated where I am. It was just another day.

Time for a quick story? Back in Hawaii, your mother and I had a friend who would deep-fry turkeys. He would host a party, and if you brought a whole, thawed turkey, he would fry it in a large pot. In fact, here is a photo. When it was fully cooked, we would take it home and let it cool for a few hours.

One Thanksgiving, we did this, and let the fried turkey sit on our kitchen countertop to cool while we had dinner at Nana Lee’s house that night. It smelled wonderful.

We had two dogs in the house, so we pushed the turkey far from the edge. They were troublemakers, and we knew they would try to get the turkey while we were gone.

Your mother and I came back several hours later. The turkey was gone. It was on a plate which was now shattered on the floor. We found various oily stains in the carpet and some of the beds. But we never found any of the turkey, not even the bones. It was probably 15 pounds, and those two devil dogs ate it all.

We could always tell when the dogs were in trouble. When we arrived home, normally, they would greet us at the door. But Blythe was hiding somewhere in shame. And Maddie was too dumb to be ashamed. Both dogs had oily faces.

We laughed and laughed.

We had no idea how they got the turkey down from the counter. It was seemingly out-of-reach.

SoBe,
Your birthday is in a month. I wish I could get you something you wanted. But I don’t know what you like. Did I ever tell you that I once went to Amazon, looking for gift ideas for a teenage girl? Everything was pink and FABULOUS and gaudy. Half of the ideas were sparkly pink cell phone chargers. I don’t know your tastes, but I can’t imagine that you would want anything like that. Maybe, some day, what you’ll really want is to sit down and talk to me over a cup of coffee somewhere. I’d love that. I’ll listen to whatever you want to say, even the truth.
Dad

Sophia,
The flagship airline of the UAE – Etihad Airlines – will be flying non-stop between Abu Dhabi and Charlotte starting in May 2026. You can already fly to Charlotte non-stop from Lynchburg. This means that soon, you can fly from Lynchburg to Abu Dhabi with just one short layover in Charlotte. By then, you’ll be 17 and a half. Certainly by then, your mother will have let go of the retarded idea that I’m going to kidnap you. There’s no reason you can’t get a passport and meet me there.

I invited you to Abu Dhabi a few years ago. I assume you’ve seen the website: http://sobe.black.blue

You’ve been in a bubble your whole life. You need to see the world. Lynchburg isn’t the world.

For my daughters: a new e-mail address if they want to write to me.

“once we said goodbye
no one else will know these dreams”
source: 23
memories