Dear Henry

This summer, Jack clearly is doing what he loves - Camp Ramah, as is Joe - Home Run Baseball. They couldn't be any happier, which of course means... Mom and I couldn't be any happier. Okay, Mom could be happier if she and Joe and I were up in Massachusetts with Jack at camp. It is very tough on her not seeing Jack for a whole month.

Ramah posts photos online from time to time. Mom is all about finding shots of your brother. She even scans the backgrounds for a sighting of him. Here is the only one they have put up so far. In years past, we coached him to throw his body in front of the camera. He couldn't care less.



Maybe even better than this lone photo are the two letters we've already gotten - he has only been there about 10 days or so. I bet the counselors make you write a letter to be able to get canteen or something like that. That's how it was back in my day.

As you can see, Jack says he is having a great time. Mom is resting easier now.





A little while ago when I was cleaning out the garage I found a bunch of letters that I wrote home to Grandma Phyllis and Papa Teddy. Papa must have given them to me after cleaning out their garage after Grandma died. There are letters from when I was at Camp Tel Shalom, aérogrammes from when I went to Israel with USY Pilgrimage and long-winded typewritten missives from when I went to school in London at University College. I guess I have always been a letter writer. My cool Snoopy stationery has given way to emails and blogs.

I am pretty sure this letter was written in 1974, so I was a year or two older than Jack is now. Check out the multi-media. That is a drawing of a fish.



I sat on the couch and read a bunch of these to Mom the other night. I used to tell Mom that I was sorry we didn't have any daughters because you boys weren't gonna share anything too personal with her. Generally, I don't think guys talk about certain things - like their feelings - with their parents the way daughters do.

But strangely, in these letters, I started reading to Mom a lot of very intimate things that I was writing to Grandma and Papa Teddy. I was telling them stuff like, "I'm in love."

Huh? What the?

So there is hope for Mom.

I thought this one letter was pretty cool. I wrote this one from London. It says how I bought all of these Asterix comic books and how I hoped my kids would appreciate them one day. It turns out that Jack is a huge Asterix fan and he also collects the books.



Joe may be "amazing," but I am "prescient." I love you.