Back when my daughter, Shannon, left for college, we had only one computer in the house. Knowing that she would be needing it more than I would, I packed it up and sent it off to school with her. The following is a short letter I 'wrote' to my computer.

My dear 386,

How is life treating you at the big college? Are you getting lots of good input? Is it coming in just in bits and bytes or is it coming by the megabytes? Is Shannon feeding you a nutritious diet of good data or is she just playing your games?

It just seems so amazing to me that you are now in college! Why, it seems like only yesterday when we first brought you proudly home from the store. You were all wrapped up safe and warm in styrofoam and there was that sweet smell of fresh bubble-wrap coming from you. I was so excited when I first plugged your peripherals into your shiney new ports. Then, when for the first time ever, you booted up on your own, I wanted to run out and brag to everyone I met!

Later, when you started getting your first programs installed and I could see the type of processor you were going to be, I was so very proud and so delighted! Many were the happy hours I spent with you, sharing the goodtimes and, yes, sharing the downtimes. Even then, though, I knew that such a day as today was inevitable. You would not always be satisfied just being Daddy's little 386. You were destined to grow, learn, become a 486, maybe even become a Pentium, get your RAM upgraded, possibly go online with one of the big outfits like America Online or MSN. And then, all grown, you would take that big step and find your other half, the half you knew you had been waiting for: your math co-processor! Sure, I know there will always be room in your CPU for me, but I also know it will be, and should be, secondary. But that's OK! I know that all I have to do is flag one of your interrupts and I will immediately be queried by you. And that's enough for me, just knowing that I have helped to bring you to true artificial sentience.

Be good to Shannon. Remember that she is only a frail human and does not fully understand your needs. She will do the best she can. I will be thinking of you as I know you will be thinking of me. If you get too lonely for me, just remember to keep a stiff upper floppy and put some fun graphics on your monitor. I'll rescue you as soon as I can.

All my love,

Dad