Dear Henry

We went to your cousin Melissa's Bat Mitzvah this weekend. It was in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This was you Michael and Melissa eating ice cream who-knows-where.



Hey, Chocolate Face. We eat a lot of chocolate in this family.

And this was at Catherine and Tim's wedding. Catherine is pregnant.



Toward the end of the Bat Mitzvah they remembered all of the family members who had died and couldn't be with everyone to celebrate, like Melissa's great grandparents. The Rabbi even said your name, however she said it "Henry Strongin," and left out the "Goldberg."

I felt for a moment like you were taken away from me again just a bit. It wasn't anyone's fault. Hearing your name like that made me feel like you weren't mine. I got over it.

The rest of the festivities were nice. They had a slide show of Melissa's life which had those two photos of you. I was outside watching Joe and missed it. Mom was inside and left before they even got to the slides those photos. She was sad. It is hard for us to watch a kid grow up like that.

Speaking of growing up - it was Joe's first day of nursery school today. He went to the Gan and stayed for a whole two hours before his class let out for the day. They stay longer from now on. He seemed very happy when we left. Just like his two older brothers he did not make a fuss when Mom and I walked out the door without him.

He was very grown up. I was worried we'd be sad. I asked Mom probably 3 times this week, "Do you think it is going to be hard?" The only hard part was getting him to stand still for a good picture.