写给女儿的第一封信
Dear Leslie,
Your due date is tomorrow. Whether you will be on time or slightly late, I am writing you this very first letter.
Over the past few months, I have been asked many times by family and friends whether I was excited about your birth. Of course, I am. But it's a unique kind of excitement that I have never experienced and can't yet articulate in words. I mean, I know you are my daughter; I know you are beautiful; I know you will bear some resemblance to mom or me in one way or another; I know the pronoun "she" will be among a new set of vocab in our family conversations; I know the word family will no longer mean the same thing to me.
But the feelings I have for you are vague. I haven't seen you. I can't visualize how you look like. I don't know how you sound like. I am not able to touch you. And to be honest, I have no concrete idea about what being a father means.
Maybe it takes time. We have to take one step at a time. Before we meet, let me tell you why we gave you the name Leslie Fanpu Meng (孟繁朴).
First, Chinese name. According to family character generation, a naming system, we use three characters in our names, with the second predetermined. So in your case, you have 孟繁 as your first two characters, and we need to come up with a third to complete it. Mom and I figured 朴 would be a great choice as it means simple and sincere. And it complements 繁 nicely both in meaning and form (in terms of strokes). Most of all, 繁朴 is the homophone of 返璞, which means "to return to one's true self."
Then why Leslie? We wanted to pick a name that is not too common, sounds good, and has multiple syllables to go with the single syllable surname Meng. We spent nights and nights brainstorming before settling on Leslie. Having Scottish and Gaelic roots, it means "garden of holly trees" and meets all the desired criteria. We so named you also to honor our favorite Hong Kong Canadian actor Leslie Cheung.
A name symbolizes the existence of something or someone. Yet a name, however well-thought-out or well-chosen it is, has some degree of randomness: it doesn't absolutely have to be what it is and may very well be something entirely different. It even happens that people never identify with their names. But mom and I are deeply fond of your name. We wish the best for you and have poured our wishes into the naming. I hope the name will grow on you.
Ah, I just realized that it will be a while before you can reasonably understand the letter. See? We have to take things slowly. One step at a time.
Mom and I are ready to welcome you to this world. Come say hello whenever you are ready.
Love,
Dad
孟庆伟 Justin
个人微 ID：justinqmeng
现象级英语联合创始人
初中英语 70 分（满分 100）
两次获雅思写作 8 分，口语 8 分
题图：William M Harnett
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