#tj french

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Dear child(ren),

Your mom and I bartended at Sarah and TJ’s wedding reception tonight, which was at the armory. They staged a send-off in which we all threw multi-colored sugar sprinkles on them (which seems like it would get sticky, but maybe not).

Sarah’s my youngest cousin on my maternal side, so even though she’s married and out of college and all that, I still feel like she’s thirteen. But I guess she’s not and I need to accept that I’m old now.

Dad

Beebe, Arkansas. 5.20.2017 - 7.55pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

Yiayia came over first thing this morning because she wanted to be there when you two woke up to discover Santa had visited our house in the night. Gus came down first and then we went upstairs to wake up Magnus. We got Gus a Gizmo watch, which he can use to call/text numbers we approve -- we coordinated with the Calhouns so he and William got the same watch. Magnus's big present was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle vehicle.

We went to Nana's around 3pm for Christmas on the Compound. The best part of every visit to the Compound these days is watching you two with your cousins. Lots of playing.

After dinner, we went up to Nene's house to spend the night -- Caroline & Cate joined us for popcorn & movies, Guess Who, and Taboo. It was fun to catch up with them. We talked a lot about Caroline's recent tour of Louisiana Tech University. I also enjoyed looking at this Tumblr's posts that included them from way back. It was fun to get their take on old photos.

Dad.

Beebe, Arkansas. 12.25.2025 - 6.21pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

Independence Day at The Compound included pickleball, bocce ball, ribs, lemonade, homemade ice cream, and lots of bikes, scooters, and big wheels. You two spent the night with Nene so Mom and I could have some time to ourselves for the first time in a while.

Nene & Rick took you to the Rudds to eat hot dogs and watch fireworks. Magnus was extremely excited about the sleepover. This afternoon he said, "Dad, I'm ready for you and Mom to go away now." And then he told Nene he wanted to have "cookouts for dinner."

This photo was right after the annual recreation of this photo.

Dad.

Beebe, Arkansas. 7.4.2025 - 3.26pm.

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Dear Gus & Magnus,

Gus turned four years old today and we celebrated at the monthly family lunch at Nana's. Mom and Magnus stayed home to recover and have some alone time, but Mom hated she couldn't be there to celebrate Gus with everyone. At his request, Nene made Gus a space cake with all the planets and the sun and the moon.

I love getting to see him run around Nana's house with his cousins in the same way I used to run around myself. My hope is that you both grow up with some of your best friends also being your family.

Dad.

Little Rock, Arkansas. 6.13.2021 - 1.45pm.

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Dear Gus & Baby #2,

Since we won’t have a chance to celebrate Nana’s birthday in person, Aunt Connie arranged for us to surprise her via Google Meets. It was chaos and full of various technical difficulties, but it was still good to all be in a virtual space together in honor of our matriarch.

Gus was super shy and mostly stayed out of the shot, but he came in long enough to say, “Happy birthday, Nana.”

Dad.

Arkansas. 1.3.2021. - 6.10pm.