16 Letters

16 Letters : Letter #8

NINE

   Here we go again. A new year brought new changes within my family, well my family of two that is. Haley turned eight years old today and like most of the kids at her school, she just stopped calling me her dada. It hurts me to see my daughter grow up so quickly but it was a hurt that I had to live with. Right now, I was her daddy. I guess it was Haley’s way of saying she was no longer a small child anymore, who needed her dada all the time. Now, I’ll be her daddy, someone whom she’ll still always, always love but would want to have less to do with. It was the inevitable transition.

    Haley woke up on her eighth birthday, no less older than the day before. She still looked the same, did the same things and definitely ate the same breakfast of pancakes like she always had for the past seven years. “Happy birthday, honey!” I wished her, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. “Thanks, daddy”. A stab through my heart, because just a couple of days ago, I was still her dada. “Where are we going today?” Haley asked me, all of a sudden, being more childlike and I couldn’t help but smile. I wanted to keep her this way even though I knew it wouldn’t last.

Dear Dylan,

          As you know, when I was a child I spent three years at the hospital, so much so that it has become my second home. Being stricken with illness meant that those three years for me were no doubt terrifying but there were a few people I met during that time who made it less frightening for me. I made friends with some kind souls who out of an act of kindness decided to pay me a visit. We grew a close bond with each other and even up till my last days, I still kept in touch with them. It would mean the world to me if you would take Haley to the hospital today to pay a few kids a visit. Just like me, I know it would mean the world to them. I’ll always love the both of you.

 Love, Katie.

                                                                      ***

    The elevator doors opened on the tenth floor and Haley and I walked out. We were at the children’s floor. Haley held a few strings of balloons in her hands : yellow, pink and white. It was a weird, awkward feeling not knowing who we’d meet today and how would they react to two complete strangers but I decided to go with it anyway. We walked past all the rooms and finally stopped in front of room 1021.

    It was as if there was a magnetic pull coming from this room and deep down in my heart, I knew this was the room. My heart went out to the child lying on the hospital bed in Room 1021. His body was covered in bandages all over and we could not see his face but Haley walked in anyway and tied the balloons to the edges of the hospital bed.

    The boy turned over, wincing in pain as he did so. “Hi. I’m Haley. What happened?” my daughter asked, being so blunt and straightforward that I didn’t know if she, we, were doing the right thing. I stood beside them, not sure what to say. The boy’s eye’s fluttered open and he looked at us in complete surprise. “I’m Noah” the boy, well, Noah finally said after he had gotten over his initial shock of seeing Haley and me standing in his room. Haley pulled over a chair and she sat on it. “I’m eight. How old are you?” Haley asked again, out of curiosity. “I’m ten” Noah said to Haley and basically I just tuned out of their conversation.

    Haley was being really nice to Noah, and Noah genuinely just looked happy to have some sort of company around, even if it came from a complete stranger and her dad. And that day, was the day we met Noah, the second most important man in Haley’s life. Call it what you want, but I knew deep down that it was God’s plan all along. Oh. And in case you were wondering who’s the most important man in Haley’s life, well it’s me. At least I’d like to think so.