Dear Caleb,

It doesn't seem possible that we are celebrating your last birthday before the "teen" years begin! Watching you grow throughout these preteen years has had its share of challenges, but it's also been such a joy to see you turning into a more mature version of your younger self. You're taller, wiser, and less innocent than you were as a little boy, but much of the core of who you are hasn't changed.

You still have a will that is stronger than most, but we always remind ourselves that if channeled in the right direction, it will serve you well as you grow. You have learned to be a bit more respectful about trying to get your way or prove your point, but it's definitely a work in progress. With that strong will, though, comes a strong sense of right and wrong. You view almost everything with a sense of justice in mind. Sometimes that sense of justice and fairness is geared towards yourself, but not always. You care deeply about making sure that things are right and fair for everyone...even the smallest and (seemingly) most insignificant of things. One moment that stands out from this year is when you came home from school SO distraught about the fact that you shed tears over a bee that your teacher killed in class. You didn't want her to kill it and would've rather caught it and let it go through the window or door, but the majority of your classmates were against that idea. You felt that sadness so deeply, and managed to hold back the tears until you could be excused from class to take a breather, but the tears didn't go unnoticed. Despite your embarrassment, we are proud of you for being true to who you are. We hope that your desire to fight for the voiceless leads you to do BIG things for people (and animals) in the future!

You still have an incredible amount of determination. When you were little, you would fixate on things and focus so much on whatever task you were given. The same is still true today. This helps you greatly at school, where you still don't face too many tasks that leave you challenged and frustrated (something we keep trying to remind you will not always be the case). That determination carries over into your favorite hobbies as well. If given the chance, you'd spend ALL day on the xbox playing your sports games. You fixate on creating teams and designing players and winning games. It is slightly obsessive and definitely something we have to keep you in check with. If it's not sports on the screen that you're playing or watching, it's real-life sports that you're participating in. In a casual game of pick-up football or baseball in the front yard, you are often the one who gets so invested in it that you walk away full of tears or frustration when things don't go your way or people don't take it as seriously as you. On the other hand, you can be the one to set a great example of pushing through and having a good attitude when things don't look so good for your team. Your baseball team last summer was pretty horrible and barely won a game, but you kept a great attitude through it all. You also had the unfortunate experience of playing for a really bad basketball team this winter when you participated in your first season on a school team. Sadly, your coach was rather unqualified for the job and it showed. You came home from a lot of practices and relayed to us the fact that the coach mostly yelled and gave punitive tasks for everyone to do. There was very little actual coaching and learning going on. Regardless, you kept with it and didn't develop much of a negative attitude. You were determined to work hard up until the very end and we were so proud of the good character you demonstrated through it all.

When it comes to character, we are extremely proud of the young man you're becoming. We have heard countless times from other people that they are impressed by your politeness and kindness towards others. At parent-teacher conferences this year, one teacher told us that she greatly appreciates your kind words each day when you walk in and ask her how her day has been going. Granted, she's one of your all-time favorite teachers so far, but it's still so heartwarming to know that you are extending kindness to those around you. You've also become much more aware of how you can help those around you. Whether it's by holding a door for a line of people walking into a building or simply asking if there's anything you can do to help at home, we are impressed by your thoughtfulness and thankful for your caring heart.

Without a doubt, you are growing into an amazing young adult. If the teen years are anything like these past few years, we are going to really enjoy watching you develop into the man that God has designed you to be. You know who you are and you know who you're not. Keep following hard after that and know that we are following behind you with all the support in the world. A kid as awesome as you deserves to be celebrated, so we wish you nothing but the best on this 12th birthday. We know that it wasn't exactly the most desirable of birthdays (thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic), but we promise to properly celebrate YOU when this all clears! We love you and hope you always know that.

Love,
Dad and Mom