Dear Future Children,

Hi. I know you don't exist yet. I know you're just a conceptualization of my inner desires and future wants, but I can tell you what I do know now. I know that you will live in a world in which technology has surpassed human imagination. There will be inventions and gizmos that I, or any of my friends, would have ever even thought of. There will be a low chance that any person is predominately a certain race, bi-racial and tri-racialism is expanding in a rapid rate, so you won't ever have to feel like you're not good enough because of your genetic code. These are things that I know will occur because they are scientifically scheduled but here are a few things that I hope.

From what I hope, you will be named Mason and Amelia, who came first doesn't matter because you will both be very independent. You will be able to take care of yourselves but also protect each other. By this point in society, gender roles will be nonexistent and Amelia, you will be able to play in the mud (even though that's gross) and Mason, who cares if you think you look cute in a dress. Objects will hopefully be erased of their masculinity and femininity which means you have nothing to fear when it comes to peer pressures of how a male or female should act. Yea, I know. This sounds like a huge leap to you. Maybe nothing has changed or maybe you don't even believe that these things actually happened, but I still have more to hope for.

Amelia, I hope that you are born into a world where Rape Culture has deteriorated significantly. I hope that I won't have to fear for your safety because boys deem you a worthy candidate for their taking. People are people, yes that's true, but people can learn. Rape is a choice. It is not an impulsive decision but a decision to do an abominable thing. I would never wish that upon my worst enemy and I would be broken to pieces if it were to happen to my child. I hope that by the time you can work you will be paid just as much as a man. I hope that the equality of women and the movement of feminists has bridged the gap economically, socially, and sexually. No longer will you be defined as a whore for having multiple sexual partners while a man is considered a player. No longer will you be considered a lesbian (and it's okay if you are) or a prude because you deny sex in all its forms because you're waiting for the right person. Amelia, I hope for a future in which you will be able to fulfill your greatest dreams. I hope for a school system that doesn't measure you based on a number but based on your prowess in your respective field. I want you to be a powerful young woman who doesn't take shit from anyone. I want you to be a young woman who makes the world bow at her feet because she knows exactly who she is.

Mason, you will be a young man of color. You will have genes from many different ancestors but in the end your skin pigment will be darker than most. I hope that the world will be a different place. I hope that your skin doesn't determine how others see you. I hope that the color of your skin doesn't get you shot for walking down the street. I hope that the color of your skin doesn't get you beaten for exercising your rights as an American citizen when dealing with law enforcement. I hope that the color of your skin doesn't deny you equality directly stated under our constitution. I hope that by the time you can recognize the horrors of the world you will not recognize social separatism because it will not exist. My hope is that natural selection will weed out those that cannot accept the differences in others. My hope is that you will bring home a girl one day and not be scared. My hope is that you will bring home a boy one day and not be scared. I want to meet this human and invite them to dinner, as long as their not a psychopath, but if you love them, just be safe, son. Mason, I want you to understand the pressures of this world and that I will never forsake you. My love is eternal and I will always listen to you. Our views do not have to be the same, I respect that, however I do expect you to love every person in a different way. No one is the same, everyone is unique and everyone deserves to feel loved. I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. You can talk to me about love, school, work, fear, depression and so on. In this new decade I hope that even with the technological advances we have achieved you will not feel pressured to copy your peers.

My Amelia Skai and Mason Vincent. My beautiful children. You will be able to take care of yourselves and live independently with the freedom to do as you please, the freedom to love who you please, the freedom to study what you please and the freedom to live unapologetically. At the same time, however, you will understand and appreciate the value of community, the importance of self-governing and making morally right choices. You will understand the fact that nothing is ever black and white and that everyone has a reason, everyone has a motive. You will accept that fact and make assumptions of the world based on your interpretation of its history and present. I promise to be a good father. I promise that I will choose a great partner whether male or female to love and look after you just as much as I will. I promise that you already have about three God-Aunts and about two God-Uncles who you will love to meet, even if I have to track them down to the corners of the globe.

Lastly, I promise to show you the world. I promise to show you perspective so that you understand that nothing is ever as it seems. The world is different everywhere you go. It's great to learn from a book, to see the information in black and white, but Mason...Amelia, there's nothing like experiencing cultures first hand and I will not let that escape you in my lifetime. I hope to be an amazing parent. I hope to be an amazing friend. I hope to guide you as best I can, but ultimately this is the thing I understand the most. Your life is your own and I cannot live it for you. I will not try to live it for you. I will encourage you to be your truest self because living honestly, living unapologetically, living with self love and self worth are the greatest tools I will ever be able to give you because with those...you can conquer the world.

Love,

Dad