THE WORLD'S MOST BRAVE LITTLE GIRL JUST TURNED 12 YRS OLD! - Dorothy Gee Que Sera Sera Bucket List

LETTER TO 12-YEAR-OLD DOROTHY : Dear Dorothy, it is Nov 6, 2024, and I am finally accepting the fact that you are now 12 years old. For the last few years, I’ve been in denial, trying everything within my power to stop you from growing up. But as of today, I’ve decided to change my stubborn ways and not only accept the fact that you are growing up, but I will embrace it. This decision feels good for me :) I think it feels good because I know that you and I have made the most of the last 12 years together. So I’m telling myself to not be sad. Just keep making the most of our time together, every year and every day. I’m so grateful for our relationship. I’ve cherished every day since the day you were born, on my birthday! You are the best gift to me that ever was. We have so many great memories that are grand, but I’m also grateful for the small memories like “don’t eat me for dinner daddy” and “sweetie girl” and “squid falling from the sky” ;) Thank you, Dorothy, for being my daughter. Please never grow apart from me as you get older. Please know I will always be here for you, always ready to hug you and hold you and listen to you, especially when you make mistakes in life like every human does…including mom and dad :) I’m also going to try to do better to let you become your own person. I know I often strongly encourage you to make my passions your own. Hopefully it’s not too much. I just love you and love my passions and want you to feel the same joys I have in life. But I’ve been learning so much lately from witnessing how much you love reading, and school, and acting and other things that I don’t relate to quite like you do. YOU BE YOU. Honestly, in so many ways, I wish I was more like you. You’re so incredibly creative, driven, and talented! When I saw you glowing on stage during your plays this week it made me happier than anything. You were beaming with the type of joy that can only come from following your passions! Never stop being so passionate about the things you care about. You can’t teach motivation and drive at the level you have it, so be grateful for it and never let that fire go out. The fire of caring soooo much about everything you do is also a burden, I live with it too, and I know it can be terrible and feel like a burden, but I promise you, a life of not caring too much about anything is far, far worse. KEEP CARING! Dorothy, here’s a secret that will make the difference between spending your life doing what you love OR spending your days working at a job that you dislike just to get by. The secret sauce is this: Be BRAVE enough to pursue your passions. Have the SELF CONFIDENCE that you can make your dreams come true. And then WORK HARD enough at your passions to become truly great. If you do those things, then your passion can become your craft and you will wake up each day excited to live your life, working hard even if it doesn’t feel like work because you love what you do. Finally, I’ve been really grateful to see you with such great friends in your life. I especially love how close you are with Manilla and Calihan. Please PLEASE please make extra effort these upcoming teenage years to keep that love and friendship with your brothers strong. You are a leader in this family. Your brothers look up to you. Your mother looks up to you. I look up to you. But don’t get too prideful, after all, I can still beat you in Mario Kart. But I still love you :) Sincerely, Dad P.S. I’m going to make a prediction: The year is 2031 and you’re away at college. I travel to wherever you are on Nov 6. I want to keep our tradition of daddy-daughter date going. You have plans with friends. I’m okay with it. I let you have your day with friends but the next day you make time for me and when go to the local arcade and I beat you at air hockey and the basketball game. We win a lot of tickets together but the prizes suck so we get 1 little candy each and gift the rest of our tickets to another young girl that is walking into the arcade with her young dad as we exit :)