Last night, a terrorist group named ISIS attacked multiple spots in Paris, France. I pray to God that by the time you're old enough to read this, things like this are nothing more than a note in a history book. You and Dad REALLY got into baseball this year. It seems only fitting that they also won the World Series this year. You loved staying up and watching the game. You and Dad watched on the couch and we ate junk food every night. I felt awful that the win came 2 hours past your bedtime on a school night. If I had known with 100% certainty, I would have let you stay up. We made it to the parade though. We went and sat for 4 hours at the side of a blocked in street, half a block from Dad's office. Over 800,000 people were there. Schools (including yours) closed for the day. We saw the trophy. We saw the players. It was a great day. I took a lot of pictures and made sure that I paid special attention to remember everything. Which brings me to Lesson 42...
I'm not going to lie. I was also scared shitless. A couple of years ago, someone set off bombs at the Boston Marathon. A boy, not much older than you, was killed. I almost had a panic attack at the thought of us being down there with all those people. If Dad hadn't announced at the last minute that he wanted to go, I may have stayed home. I watched you guys, but I also watched people. I watched for anyone who didn't seem to belong. I watched for people who had bags. I watched for unattended bags. I watched the trashcans. BUT we went. We went and we had fun. We made memories. These assholes WANT us to be afraid. I'm not going to pretend it isn't working, but I don't want my children growing up being scared to go outside. I struggle with that almost anytime we go out to a major event at a public place. I run scenarios in my mind about how I would try my best to protect you. It's not right. No one should have those thoughts. No one should live with that fear. I'm not going to pretend to know the answer to the problem. I wish I did. All I can do is hope that it won't be a problem forever. Hope that those assholes either come to their senses or they die. Hope that the new generation of their children see what their parents are and work to be better. Until then, I have to put on my game face and have fun. Even when it scares me.
