You’re living in a kind of crazy world, I won't lie to you. You've only been here for a few days, but I think it's important that you accept this as fact right from the start: this is a crazy place to exist.

I won't bother you with all of the specifics of the craziness though, because I know your most pressing problems as of now are probably having to pee and being hungry. Here’s a secret: those will still be some of your most frequent problems when you're an adult, too.

Your mom tells me that despite how much I might already love you, I don't want to deal with your dirty diapers and constant crying so I shouldn't try to steal you and keep you all to myself. Maybe that's true, but I still believe you're worth it. If someone tells you a story someday about how your aunt tried to kidnap you as a baby, just remember I did it out of love.

I hope you see the world as a beautiful place, and I hope it treats you like the beautiful person I know you'll grow up to be. I hope you find something you love to do and you pursue it with reckless abandon and optimism. Maybe you'll find it right away and know your whole life where you belong — or maybe you'll grow into it slowly, shedding one skin after another until you find the one that fits you just right. Maybe it won't just be one thing; maybe you'll love a whole bunch of things and find your happiness in everything and everyone around you.

I hope you find people who love you. Not just your family, since I'm positive we’ll all love you terribly until you're smothered by how adored you are. I hope you find friends who will run down the sidewalks shouting and playing with you, who will speed too fast down the highway with the music turned up too loud with you, who will make faces at you until you crack a smile when you're giving presentations in class. I hope you fall in love over and over and over again, and I hope you always have the confidence to be the version of yourself you feel most comfortable being. I hope you find the people who will accept you for whoever that may be.

I hope you get a lot of chances to feel alive and real and infinite. I hope you're brave on your first day of school. I hope your heart races during your first kiss. I hope your palms are a little too sweaty when you nervously pull onto the road the first time you drive. I hope you grin ear to ear when you get into the college of your dreams. I hope you find a job that makes you excited to wake up every morning.

It’s kind of a crazy world you've been suddenly thrust into, but I hope you realize that it's worth it. Even when the day comes that you realize you're barely a speck in the grand scheme of the universe, I hope you remember how important you are anyway. I hope you make a ton of silly and extraordinary memories that remind you of who you are every day.

I hope you're silly and smart and weird and recklessly optimistic and a little bit crazy sometimes. I've always thought people are the most wonderful when they're a little bit crazy.

I love you already, Evan, and I will for the rest of our crazy, beautiful lives.