6/15/99
Diamond Point Park/Bemidji, MN
Dear kid:
Let the record show that I’m not what it might seem. A guy who just drives away one day, never looks back. Who loses a cat. I did do all of that, of course, but . . . I sense the record could be wrested from my hands. So I better write my own. I plead my case to you because you still don’t know I’m gone. You might never know.
I could spend the rest of my life trying to right this ship.
Or I could let it sink, and swim to shore.
Baby, I hope you learn to swim early. I never learned and it’s a bit late for me. That’s not even a metaphor. I’m being literal now.
Aren’t I wise.
Neck deep,
Ryan