This is a letter to my son, this letter is about my life.  I wrote this just in case I am not able to tell him everything myself he has this to read so he knows what I have gone through in my life, in hopes that he will learn from me and not make the same mistakes I have...

Dear Jayden,
            My life has seen its ups and downs and has been nothing short of an adventure.  Not only exciting and fun adventures but adventures of the unknown and negativity.  A life of promise for a great future slipped away.  The door to my future closed right before my eyes.  Feeling lost and hopeless I attempted to turn my life around.

            Baseball was and will always be a passion of mine.  It was always there, no matter what went wrong in my life, baseball was there.  I was just starting to learn the game when Nana and Papi split up, but it was there.  Whenever I lost someone close to me, baseball was there.  The ballpark was always my getaway from all the problems in my life.  Baseball is what got me to college, without it who knows where I would be today.
           In 2006 I was 20 years old; I seriously hurt my ankle playing in a semi-professional baseball league; 2 weeks before scouts for the Pittsburgh Pirates were expecting me to tryout.  Unable to attend my scouting session with the Pirates I went back to college and for the first time in my life baseball was no longer there for me.  I was cut from the team due to my injury.  After losing the only thing that has consistently been there for me, my life turned dark.
            To cover up all my pain and sadness I turned to drugs and alcohol.  My grades suffered as a result and I was kicked out of school.  All I could think is “here we go again, yet another thing in my life that has not gone my way.”  It wasn’t until years later that I realized, that was one of the best things that had happened to me.  If it was not for getting kicked out of school, I would have ended up taking over 2 cities in Iowa selling drugs.  I would have gone straight to the top.  I would have had everything I ever wanted, money, nice cars and all the women I could handle and more.  But with the little experience I had doing this, I would have been in over my head and in prison or murdered in a year or twos time.
            In March of 2007, now 21 years old, I had nothing.  No hope, no car and a minimum wage job.  On one cold night in the basement of Nana’s house I could not fall asleep, call it fate if you will.  I decided to join the United States Army.  I figured that since I could not set myself up for a successful future, why not have Uncle Sam help me.  So I made the call and signed the papers.  Two weeks later I was on my way to basic training in Ft. Benning, Georgia.  Five months after that I stood alone in Ft Polk, Louisiana watching everyone I grew to become family with, say goodbye to their families, not knowing if I would ever see mine again.  I got on a plane and started my journey to fight in the Iraq War.  My second day in Iraq a soldier was shot in the face and died.  My hatred for the Iraqi people grew.  All I wanted to do was shoot and kill as many of them as I could during my time there.
            But an unexpected thing happened, I met a little boy.  That little boy knew what my truck looked like and would run down the street until we stopped and would talk to me every time.  He would laugh, crack jokes, tell me where the bad people lived and even tried to hook me up with his sister.  Knowing that he risked his life to tell me everything he did, I then realized that not all people all bad people, just some have not been privileged to be born into the best of situations.  That is when my life changed.
            I was medically retired from the Army on November 24^th, 2010 and came home to Pittsburgh.  Even though I was now a better person inside, I still fell back into the hood and started partying and doing drugs again.  Still wanting a better life I turned back to college and baseball to help me get there.
            It was at college I met your mother.  Your mother and I were only together for a few months when she told me she was pregnant with you.  Nine months later on February 28^th, 2012 you were born, and my life was forever changed.
            I am writing you this letter not to tell you the kind of bad person I may have been, but to give you a guide of what not to do in case something happens to me and I am unable to tell you myself.  If it wasn’t for a few misfortunes and 2 little boys worlds apart I do not know where my life would have ended up.  I did all of this to set myself up to give you a better life than I might have had.  So live your life whole hearted and true.  Put your all into everything you do, take care of your family and friends, and live everyday as it is your last because you never know when it might end.
            Love,
                  Daddy