[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 124 (Friday, October 6, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1697-E1698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          A LETTER TO MY SONS

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. MARSHALL ``MARK'' SANFORD

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 5, 2000

  Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, in the final days of the 106th Congress and 
my time here in the House, I rise today to pass these words on to my 
sons.

                                                  October 5, 2000.
       Dear Marshall, Landon, Bolton and Blake: I wanted to write 
     this letter so that maybe in twenty years or maybe after I 
     have died you could look it up and think about how much your 
     Dad loves you. I write this letter as much as anything 
     because I feel the need to pause and praise each of you and 
     to say how proud I am of you and how much, again, I love you.
       That's needed because over the last seven years all you 
     have known is a world tied to politics. For each of the words 
     I spoke into the record on the House floor, or in Committee, 
     I couldn't expand time and also fill those minutes and hours 
     with words to each of you. Each of the days I spent in 
     Washington were days I couldn't spend with you. Each of the 
     evenings I spent at political events were evenings I couldn't 
     spend with you. I apologize for our time apart. Each of you 
     as young men will one day discover your calling--why God put 
     you here--and in turn have to struggle in balancing the 
     different responsibilities each of you will embrace.
       I have felt that my job over these last seven years was 
     getting to--and being in--Congress. Since I came here I have 
     tried as best I could do what I thought was right, but in all 
     that doing I always thought of each one of you. Here in 
     Washington I never went to bed once without saying prayers 
     with each of you in them.
       In the early years it was just Marshall and Landon, and you 
     guys, as little guys, put in far more than your share of 
     parades and political events.
       As if yesterday I remember the Hell hole swamp parade and 
     pulling the wagon with Marshall and Landon. In the 
     Summerville parade in the first campaign, to this day I 
     remember Marshall's wild white curls and his little light 
     blue V-neck sweater. I am amazed to look at pictures and see 
     how small Landon was at the start of this process.
       I think the last parade with just Marshall and Landon was 
     at the Loris Bog-off. It was cool and I remember your mom and 
     I buying you both swords at a booth alongside the railroad 
     track afterward. I doubt I was that big on the swords, but I 
     am sure your mom well made the point that you earned them, 
     and in case you don't remember the spot--there were men and 
     women in bright blue clothes dancing to country music on a 
     flat-bed trailer just to the left.
       Marshall, you have always been great help with your younger 
     brothers, thank you. The way you have carried yourself also 
     makes me proud. Do you remember going with then Governor 
     Beasley and several security men in a Department of Natural 
     Resources speed-boat out to a Navy destroyer in Charleston 
     Harbor? During the commissioning ceremony it was hot and you 
     were not wild about being there, but you put up with it and 
     behaved well. In the same vein do you remember sitting under 
     my chair at the Hwy 61 connector opening. It was hardly a 
     grand event, but you found shade and stayed still and quiet 
     which was no small feat given your age. In these and many 
     other events like them, you showed a maturity well beyond 
     your years. It will carry you far in life.
       In the political context of my note, Landon made me proud 
     most recently at the St. Patricks day parade in North Myrtle 
     Beach. I was pulling a wagon along side you while you walked 
     straight up the yellow line in the middle of the street. In 
     your young man's march you were waving at the several 
     thousand people who lined both sides of the road. In most 
     waves your arm was held at a forty-five degree angle and your 
     palm and hand were straight up as if the tip of a small 
     spear. The whole thing was not easy for you. In fact it was 
     incredibly brave. Blake was in my arms and your two brothers 
     were riding in the wagon and there you were, a reserved boy 
     by nature walking up a street surrounded by strangers--waving 
     to both sides. On the long drive home you started singing 
     some silly song and next thing you know three boys are 
     laughing hysterically in the back of the Suburban. You have 
     the ability to defuse things with laughter.
       Bolton--you are a natural born performer. Of all the family 
     members you are the most gifted in surprising people, and not 
     infrequently, making them laugh. You were doing just that 
     winter before last at the Conway parade when you rode in the 
     wagon and chose to throw bags of candy--not the candies! In 
     the same light I remember the words Mary Crixmas, Mary 
     Crixmas, Happy Santa Claus. Last winter I was the Grand 
     Marshall of the Mount Pleasant Christmas parade. Marshall sat 
     to my left, Landon on my right, you were on my lap and with 
     outstretched arms you yelled these words with such enthusiasm 
     that half-way through the parade you couldn't say another 
     word. John McCain asks regularly about you and still talks 
     about your enthusiasm for fishing. I think you are the only 
     four year old to have given the President of the United 
     States a froggy kiss. These days you are into catching 
     butterflies with your hands, but thank you for wearing 
     politics as well as you have.
       Blake--you haven't said a whole lot in parades yet, but you 
     haven't had to because with your blonde curls and cute smiles 
     everyone adores you! You are specific in what you want 
     thought, you like to be carried--not to ride on my shoulders 
     like some of your brothers.
       The point in these memories, and a thousand others like 
     them, is that we have been through some interesting times 
     together. Your peers have not had to go through what you 
     have. At your young ages you have been exposed to a wide 
     range of people and settings--medicade nursing home visits, 
     trips to the White House, the House that Congress built with 
     Habitat for Humanity, watching the sun rise from a boat 
     moored feet from where the Hunley would rise hours later, 
     feeding special Olympic kids at the Citadel, getting up hours 
     earlier than you would have to go to an event in Myrtle 
     Beach, beach sweeps, and more. In the end I think you will be 
     better for having seen a wide swath of life, but since it 
     involved wear and tear on your bodies this note is here 
     simply to say thank you. Thank you for behaving well, and 
     thank you for putting with it. I am proud of you. You are 
     each unique young men. I love you

[[Page E1698]]

     and look forward to spending more time with each of you over 
     the years ahead.
           Love,

                                                          Dad.

       P.S. After reading this, one day do an extra something 
     special for your mom. In my absence over the last six years 
     she has changed a lot of diapers and fixed more than her 
     share of dinners for you.

     

                          ____________________