For our children and our children’s children

Dear little girl,
Welcome to this place of beauty, wonder and knowledge. We here are your people and we dedicate our words and deeds to making this life as fulfilling for you as it can possibly be. You come to us at a time of great change, heralding the dreams of tomorrow and giving us a reason to hope. You signal our rebirth as a people and we can only hope that we do right by you. May you "live long and prosper."
Your crazy uncle,
Rhino

There is a new life among us, a little girl. Nicole and David Nagimesi are the proud parents of a bouncing baby girl. She is not yet named because David and Nicole are the "happy go lucky" kind of people who will get round to it when the time comes. I told David that I had to have my own special name for her and I am thinking of something that means "rebirth" because it resonates perfectly with my life. It amazes me that I am a part of this moment; I did not see myself experiencing it. I imagine that these new parents are filled with excitement and joy; they have set about starting a family, one of the most joyous and fulfilling endeavours of life. The decision to bring a new life into this world is one that I have decided to pass up; I have had a hard enough time being responsible for myself that I don't feel adequate to parent another life. Perhaps I will always live vicariously on that part, like my good friend Lisa Fields. Be that as it may, I cannot help but imagine what it feels like to be a parent. To come to the realisation that you are solely responsible for another life must be overwhelming and yet euphoric. I love this child and it's simply because she is my fellow human being, we have the fortune or misfortune of sharing the same planet, I am bound by nothing less than natural law to love her. I want her to grow up in a world that is peaceful, a place that affords her the best chance at becoming the person she was meant to be. I look at the world I live in now and I feel that I must change something about it, that I must do my darnedest to make it that much better for her. I dedicate my life to such endeavours and perhaps I am too idealistic but I must try, at least for her, for our children and our children's children.