Dear Henry

We went to Nana and Papa Sy's for Break-the-Fast. It was at their new apartment. Not sure if I told you they moved near us. This is where they stay when they aren't in St. Michaels.



The best part is we walked there from our house. I cannot think of many things better than being able to walk to your grandparent's place. I hope that Jack and Joe wear out a path in the concrete on the sidewalk between our homes as they get older.

All the cousins and friends were there. We saw Big Michael and Hannah and all of their kids. We'll see them next month in Michigan when we visit them and see the football game. M Go Blue, right. You and Jack were good at that. We had something that said that. I can't remember what it was. I know Mom has a "talking" Michigan bottle opener, but I think it was some kind of ball with a chip inside that would say, "M Go Blue" whenever you smashed it on something.

I remember buying you some kind of Michigan something or other when I was traveling for work. Bringing it home to you made me feel like a real dad. My dad, Papa Teddy, brought me back a Minnesota Vikings hat from a business trip he made to Minnesota when I was just a kid. It was purple and had a yellow pom-pom. For a time I liked both the Redskins and the Vikings. I liked the "Purple People Eaters," which were the Minnesota defensive line. I used to always like to be Alan Page when I was tackling in "maul ball," which was a game where you would just keep throwing up the ball and whoever caught it would just run around trying not to get tackled.

I think I may have just told you about this, but in case I didn't -- I played little kid football in a YMCA league at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda. We wore helmets and shoulder pads which is such a cool thing when you are a kid. I just remember it being really dusty. I wish Grandma were still alive so I could ask her about it. I don't remember much more than the cool pads and the dust.

You and I had tickets to go to the University of Michigan v. University of Minnesota football game, the Little Brown Jug, when we went up to Minnesota for that last checkup when you ended up dying. I wonder how I got those tickets? Aunt Jen was friends with the guy who ran the Vikings. That might be it.

You got your fever that day when while we were up in our hotel room. I had to leave you alone so I could run out and get you tylenol and food you'd eat. And to think I was bummed about missing the game. I figured it was just another fever. We would have had a lot of fun at the game.

It's October. Hard month.