Our Dearly Beloved Letters To Heaven From The Family Nelson

Letter #2

Dear Dad,

I dont want to make this a big deal and get all sad but....i'm not going to say that I miss you because I dont. I know your with me and you never really left. Sure you're not here in body but you gave me all the love I needed even before you adopted me. I rememer before that you were the first face I woke up to and the last I fell asleep to as a kid. That Purple Rain poster above my bed was what kept me going. Carly thought it was crazy to aspire to be someone we both thought I'd never cross paths with but somehow it was written that we did. You changed my whole life even as a child. When I met you for the first time I was never so excited! My idol showing up at the orphanage that I was living in! At first I was a little sad that you were always taking Carly with you on the weekends but that was becasue she was being punished for stealing from you. I can't lie I was mad at her too. I almost never talked to her again. At least she returned you Tele back to you. I think she couldn't handle me giving her the cold shoulder for too much longer. My best memory of us together was when I told you I wanted to learn how to play Let's Go Crazy. My 8th birthday was one of the greatest days of my life. When you pulled that sweet guitar from under the table I ran into you so hard that I almost made you drop it. A white cloud guitar just like yours! It was just as beautiful and amazing as yours and it sounded just the way it looked! Like a white fluffy cloud! I played and practiced on it every day and never wanted to put it down. When you gave me my first lesson I was frustrated at first becuaseI felt like I was never going to be as good as you. When you heard me say that I wanted to quit you wouldn't let me. You patted me on the head and told me that making mistakes only makes me human. If I was perfect all the time then I wouldn't learn anything new. That's when you told me the story of how you would always forget your own lyrics on stage and sometime would make things up! I thought that was funny. Remember that time you pulled the penny out of my ear? I do. You were so confused as to how I got it in there in the first place that you laughed so hard that you were a bright red color in your face! I was mad at you for laughing. All I wanted to to was the same tricks the magicians did when you took me to the magic show at the mall. Another memory that I love was when you took me roller skating. You fell so many times that after a while you asked for the practice bars. When I found out that you could really skate and only fell because you didn't want me to feel bad for being so bad I thought that it was pretty cool! Do I miss spending time with you? Of course! I miss making new memories with you and im always going to. What i'm most grateful for is that even thought I found out about your emergeny landing onthe news you called me and told me not to worry and that you were ok. I was ready to leave campus and drive all the way home but you told me that school is more important than your small bump in the road. Then when you passed I took a long walk. I don't even know where I walked to. I just knew that I wanted to be alone for a while. I looked up at the sky and saw that rainbow. That was your message to me to let me know that you were alright. I thanked you and then started crying. When I got back to my dorm I pulled out my guitar just as my roomates walked in. They expressed their condolences and offered to buy me a plane ticket home but I turned them down. Instead I did what I felt like you knew was best and stayed at campus. They sat with me asI began to play the first few chords to Purple Rain. Just as I started playing I could feel my eyes welling. I almost stopped playing at first but I finished the song and when I looked up half of the building was standing in my small room in tears. Leaving me letters and cards and telling me how sorry they were for my loss. It was a very overwhelming first few hours but I think you helped me get through it even thought I did't see your face and knew that I wasn't going to. So with that I seriously thank you for being my rock no matter how far we are. In my book you will always be the best dad in the whole world to me. I love you. Thanks for the lessons in life and in music.

Your little man,

Joey Nelson