Dear Joseph and Lucia,

Joseph, I remember you as an extremely empathic soul.  You were always very sensitive to other people.  That can be a strength for you to communicate and lift up others.

Lucia, you were always quite compulsive and strong-willed.  These traits will help you succeed when everyone else tells you you can’t.  I can see you in athletics. Your strength is deeper than you know.

I hope you both respect your mother and treat others with respect.  There will come a day when those efforts will reflect on how you yourselves are treated.  The kinder and understanding you are to others only makes the world a better place. When someone is negative, disrespectful, or talks bad about others they are only harming themselves and how other people see them.

So, be good.  Be loving and thoughtful of others.  Try to understand all sides of a story.

Love,

Dad