My Little Girl.

Samantha at about 8 years old, at a Harry Potter Party.

Samantha turns 11.
To mark the occasion my parents dragged her out of school and took her to a nearby McDonalds to borrow their free wifi for a video phone call.
Jack has been looking forward to the call all day. So we got him in the back a little early so to be all ready for bed when the computer phone rang. Turns out they were about half and hour early, so we pulled Jack out of the tub and wrapped him in his Buzz Lightyear robe.
As soon as Samantha's face appeared on the screen Jack set to finding things to show her. He's speak to her a little bit, then wander off and come back with a toy. He'd play with that toy for a minute and tell her a little about it, then trundle off again to find another. We tried to get him to sing 'Happy Birthday' to her but he couldn't manage more than a semi-melodic mutter.
At the end of the call we negotiated the possibility of more calls involving Samantha and possibly even of Grandma or Samantha reading Jack a bedtime story over video conference, which would be very cool.

Samantha is a very thoughtful and sweet girl. Everyone who knows her remarks on her kindness and gentle manner, even her mother. She aspires to be a writer and has written a few short stories that I hope one day to read. She likes rock music and has been learning to play the guitar. She's got two younger sisters Austen and Justice and she loves them dearly.

This is the 3rd time I've spoken to Samantha in a little less than 10 years (excluding letters). My parents have worked hard to keep me updated on her current evens and sent me fairly regular photos but it's still hard for me knowing that she's out there growing up and living a life that I'm not a part of and more importantly, Jack. Hopefully over the coming years I will not be able to sum up everything I know about her in two sentences.

As time goes on I hope that Samantha and I will be able to build a relationship. I'm hoping that eventually she'll get access to a computer and we can communicate more regularly.