Wednesday, March 26, 2008

My Three Wonderful Kids!

Late this afternoon at the office I checked my email and found that all three of my children had written in an eleven minute span. I nervously began reading them to find out what was going on. Those emails follow - in the order that they arrived - from Tim, Nick, and Molly:
Rock,

We all wanted to do something a little more meaningful this year-given the fact that this is one of the Zero years, as you put it. We all came up with something that we wanted to say, I focused on some particular memories that I have from childhood that I think about a lot and really stand out for me.

The first time and place is our time living together when I was in middle school-when it was just me, you and Nick. It feels like we did everything together back then. Being an adult now and knowing a little more about what that means, I realize that you probably skipped out on a lot of opportunities to be with your friends or to date or be part of any social scene. Taking me with you on your first date with Susan is the perfect example of what I mean. You always worked very hard to show me how important I was to you and that I was priority number one. I have all of these great memories from those years on Jefferson Street. As a grown-up(again...whatever that means), I go to the movies more than anyone I know. The reason for this is because it was my favorite thing to do as a kid-and you took me every weekend for a year during this particular time period. If there was something at the theatre that I wanted to see, then chances were you were interested in seeing it, too...or vice versa-and we went! No fuss, no problems-just two guys enjoying one another's company. Going to late shows of Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man or Joe vs. the Volcano are some of my most beloved memories. Eating at Mazzio's with you and Susan two or three times a week-having a pool table instead of a dining room table-every kid I know wishing their dad took them to professional wrestling matches or gave them the kind of freedom that you gave me-I think I was right to think I was the coolest kid in town.

The other time period that comes to my mind is everything as a young adult to the present. No matter how much I screwed up or how embarrassed I was of myself and my predicament, you've always been there to bail me out-emotionally and financially and a few other ways. You've supported me on a silly dream to become a writer and bragged
about me even when there really wasn't anything worth bragging about. That support
has meant more to me than I've shown. If I ever do make it doing any kind of writing, I'll have you at the very top of my Thank You List.

Happy 60th,

Love, Tim.

Hey Dad,
I'm glad you enjoyed your Netflix gift. I had it one time and really liked it. It wasn't much though as far as a gift goes, but I'm the worlds worst when it comes to finding just the right gift for someone. Tim had a really good idea though and we've all decided to write a little something for you about memories from our childhood up till today. I'm not real good at writing, so bear with me.
You know it's kind of weird I reflect back alot on my childhood, especially now that Boone is here. I can remember having birthday parties in that blue house by the dam in Noel. I can remember some of the kids faces but not their names. Those were really great times. Can you believe I can even remember hiding behind Damions dad's chair and peeking out the window as people looked for us that day we hid? I still don't understand why you didn't kill me right then. Those are some of my earliest memories as a kid. The weeekends we would drive over there and visit Ma and Grandad are some I'll never forget also. Ma would come in and get me up at midnight to get me and have a midnight snack with her. I always thought that was so cool and it was our secret. I think maybe that's why I try and do things like that with Boone, because I can remember how important those things were to me. The house in Mtn View was alot of fun too. Remember when Tim put his hand through that glass window? I remember when we build that shed and the concrete patio and the swingset at the bottom of the sinkhole. I was fascinated as a kid at how you could build anything. And you had that heavy wheelbarrow we were always mixing concrete in. Remember that night Doug Andrews took you and I out gigging? And the motor died or something and we got in the middle of all those snakes. I remember him saying they were cottonmouths. Do you think they really were cottonmouths? People comment all the time about how accident prone I am and I have to tell them that I'm the kid that cut a finger off in the car on the way to the grocery store one time. Some of my most favorite memories of being a kid are from when would take vacations. We got to see some really cool things that alot of people don't get to their entire life. I'm really grateful that we were able to do that. Do you remember when we interrupted that great big Catholic wedding in Canada? It was a rich black family and we came in wearing jams and flip flops. How great was that. lol I bet that bride still talks about that today. I know I do. I think we should have wrote a book about our adventures and took the profit and moved to the islands somewhere. It's fun to sit around and talk about the things we did as a kid and the places we went. I know Boone loves to listen to it, as well do most of my friends. I was going through photo albums the other day and showing a friends some of our old pictures and found that scrap book that you made for me. The one where you made all of us a different one. That was such an awesome gift. It brought back alot of memories. Boone loved seeing pictures of me with long hair and pictures of my friends from school.
We were all really blessed with having such a great childhood growing up. People ask me all the time if you and I are anything alike. And I tell them yeah, we're just alike. I get comments from friends telling me what a great job I'm doing with Boone. Well I had a pretty good role model. Thanks for always being there no matter what. You're an awesome Dad. Hope you had a great birthday!

Nick

The goal was to write about a favorite childhood memory I have of you. I quickly realized though that my favorite memories are not from 20 years ago, they are from a few months ago. I am thrilled that I got the chance to get re-acquainted with you when you moved to Arizona. I was a little surprised to discover how much we have in common. From liberal viewpoints, to our taste in home decoration, to music, to working out, to our passion for helping others in need; we really have so much in common. It took me 31 years to see it, but I think I have more in common with you than I do anyone else in our family. Realizing this made it even harder for me to leave Phoenix. I was looking forward to getting to know you more. I will definitely make an effort to continue doing that from here. I just want you to know that I'm really proud to have a father as interesting, strong, intelligent, open-minded, aware, daring and inspirational as you. I'm pleased that Sebastian has a granddad with such wonderful qualities and I am anxious for you to begin sharing those qualities with him. We may be far away geographically, but we are always with you emotionally. I love you.

Molly.


Am I a lucky Dad, or what? I love you guys very much!

Pa Rock

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