Photo of the day. Michael giving you a kiss on the head is how I see it.



Speaking of photos, here is a new song by our friend Cindy Bullens. This song, Paper and Glass, is about photos of Cindy's daughter Jessie. Cindy always makes beautiful songs out of sad feelings.

I just saw Cindy down in Texas a week ago and it was really nice to see her. She is so great and so talented. I wish everyone would buy this album. Mom and I get thanked on it, which is one of the coolest things imaginable for me.



Paper and Glass

On the table there are pictures
And they're scattered every which way
I keep looking for the right one
For the best one of you and me

I go downtown in the evening
After the nice stores catch the tourists
I go search for just the right frame
For the picture of you and me

Paper and glass is all I have
What's left of you and me
Paper and glass inside a frame

So I find one and I buy it
And it shimmers like the stars
I will put it by my bedside
And I will kiss it every single night

Paper and glass is all I have
What's left of you and me
Paper and glass inside a frame

I feel the cold of the glass upon my lips
And I know I'm always gonna feel like this

Paper and glass is all I have
What's left of you and me
Paper and glass inside a frame

©2005 Mommy’s Geetar Music/BMI

A lot of great people help out Cindy on the album, including Tim Wakefield, who is a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. How cool is that - a baseball pitcher who sings and plays guitar. I wish I could do one thing really well.

The Red Sox are the team that won the World Series. Remember how last fall I kept telling you how your buddy David Ortiz was doing so well hitting all those home runs, and how the Red Sox were winning. I still believe it was because of how nice he was to you.





Batman fan. Makes sense, huh.

Obviously there are a bunch of good guys on that team. This is from a story that was in a Boston newspaper last month,

Just days after the Sox won the World Series, Wakefield was in Portland, Maine, fulfilling a promise to a friend: Singer-songwriter Cindy Bullens, who lost her 11-year-old daughter, Jessie Bullens-Crewe, to Hodgkin's Disease, was having a concert to benefit the Jessie B-C Fund as well as the Maine Children's Cancer Center, and Wakefield showed up, guitar in hand. He played with her band, then took the mike and let them back him up while he sang the Eagles' "Take It Easy."

A month earlier, Bullens, a former backup singer for Elton John who has had Sir Elton record with her, as well as such notable artists as Bonnie Raitt, Steve Earle, and Rodney Crowell, pulled Wakefield into the Woolly Mammoth recording studio near Fenway Park and had him play and sing backup on a song she's recording for her new album, "7 Days." The song has a verse about Ted Williams, and Bullens, a two-time Grammy Award nominee and devoted Sox fan, wanted Wakefield's voice to be heard.

Last month, Bullens showed up for Wakefield's golf tournament in his hometown of Melbourne, Fla., which this spring raised $241,000 for the Space Coast Early Intervention Center, which offers care for children with special needs. Let others bang the drum for what the ballplayer/guitarist does; he just quietly goes about what he can do to make a difference. The Sox, who fancy their players as more than idiots, have nominated Wakefield six times for the Roberto Clemente Award, given by Major League Baseball to honor players for their charitable endeavors.

There is a saying that was made famous by a baseball manager, a guy named Leo Durocher. He said, "Nice guys finish last."

Henry, don't believe it. Nice guys don't finish last, they win the World Series.

On Simchat Torah I had put up one of the Hope for Henry hayride postcards up on the bulletin board at the Gan. This morning when Mom and I were dropping Joe off at school a kid walked by the bulletin board and said to his mom,

"Look, there's Batman."

That felt so good to hear because I have been really, really, sad for the past day or so because I cannot stop thinking about the fact that your birthday is Monday.

On Sunday we are going to the cemetery with Ari and Simon and everyone. Our friend Cindy Bullens, who lost her daughter, told us that the birthdays are the hardest. It is pretty bad now, I wonder how I can feel any worse on Monday.

I love you and I miss you. I haven't said that in a while. You would have been 9. That is so grown up.

We had the Hope for Henry Foundation fundraiser at Aunt Abby's house. A lot of people came. Lisa came all the way from New York. Val came from California. It was great being with all of our special friends. We were excited to have Cindy Bullens play music for everyone. Cindy has a daughter, Jessie, who died when she was a young. I am very sad for Cindy. Cindy told me that Jessie's birthdays are the hardest. Today was hard, but I need hard right now. I think that is why I want to go with Mom to Minnesota.



Cindy wrote a bunch of songs to say how she felt after Jessie died. She played them for us and talked about Jessie and everyone cried. It was sad but kinda perfect. It was a nice way for everyone to think about Jessie and to think about you and to think about their own kids and people they love.

It was pretty loud so Michael, Rachel and Joshua stayed up late and hung out downstairs with all of the grown ups. Michael sat with me for a lot of the songs and that felt good. I think he had a good time and I know you would have enjoyed it.



We raised a lot of money from the concert for the Foundation. The other day the Moonbeam class at The Gan gave its tzedakah money to the Hope for Henry Foundation. A check for $2.48 came in the mail. Mom and I were really touched by this. It was very sweet of the kids.



The Foundation will help kids and families when they are getting new blood. We want to buy them fun things and do things for them to make them smile and not hurt as much. Remember when you got that soft grey blanket. I think a family gave those to everyone at Minnesota. We want to do stuff like that.

We are inviting people to Aunt Abby's house for a concert for the Hope for Henry Foundation. This is what we are going to send out.

This benefit concert, on what would have been Henry's 8th birthday, launches the Hope for Henry Foundation which will improve the lives and nurture the spirits of children and families living with Fanconi anemia and other life-threatening illnesses. The Foundation will continue to spread the magic that Henry brought to the world during his short life.

Please join us as we welcome recording artist Cindy Bullens for this stop on her "living room" tour. Cindy first broke onto the scene back in the 70's as a backup singer with Elton John, appearing on his monster hit, "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart."

In 1978, Cindy was nominated for a Grammy Award for her vocal performance on the Grease film soundtrack. She was nominated for a Grammy in 1979, for her own single "Survivor".

Later in her career, Cindy lost her 11 year old daughter Jessie and was inspired to release an album entitled Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth, which is described as "a heart-rendered requiem for Bullens' young daughter who died of cancer in 1996, though it's largely about hope for the living. .... Bonnie Raitt and Beth Nielsen Chapman sing along on the soulful anthem "Gotta Believe in Something," and Bryan Adams guests on the title track; Lucinda Williams, Benmont Tench, and Rodney Crowell also contribute. Bullens' voice and guitar simply chime with hope throughout the album. She has never sounded better."

Because this is an intimate "living room" performance, space is limited. We ask that you contribute a minimum of $100 per couple to attend.

Like PaPa Sy said at Rosh Hashanah dinner, you'll be in the room with us.

Jack lost his first tooth! On Friday, in the car with Mommy, Jack wriggled a loose tooth right out of his mouth. How about them apples. He is truly a big boy now. Jack was very proud of himself and we were very proud, too. He made out really well from the tooth fairy. I asked him if he remembered when you had those 5 or 6 teeth pulled last year and bought both him and you Game Boy Advance players with all of the cash you got. I bet you realized there were multiple tooth fairies who looked out for you.

When Jack pulled out his tooth he was on his way over to Nana and Papa Sy's for dinner before Erev Rosh Hashanah services on Friday night. Michael, Rachel, Joshua, Emma and Sam were all there running around as usual. When we sat down to eat Papa Sy made a toast and said he knew you were there with us. Jack added that he knew you were sitting in the empty chair right next to him and Michael. I know he wished he could show you his tooth. I cried. Mom cried.

After we had a little to eat, Mom and I rode the Vespa down Connecticut Avenue to Adas. Joe and Jack hung out at Nana and Papa Sy's. We had no trouble finding parking. That was cool.

Services were good. We were back in the main sanctuary where we had your funeral. Judah Drelich and his parents sat next to us. I had trouble getting through the Mourner's Kaddish. Jen Klein said that she was thinking back to your funeral when she came to services in the main sanctuary. She said she got sad. It helps to hear people tell us they are sad and they miss you. Here is something from a new book I am reading a book called "The Lord is My Sheperd, Healing Power of the Twenty-Third Psalm," by a Rabbi named Harold Kushner. He and his wife lost their little boy, too. I always thought the Twenty Third Psalm was read for the person who died, but it is for the people left behind.

Should you know someone who has suffered a loss, whether the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, or loss of a relationship, and you hesitate to contact your friend because you feel inadequate to the situation, because you are not sure you have the words to help her, please overcome that hesitation and reach out to your friend. Call her, visit her. You don't have to say anything besides "I'm sorry, I feel bad for you." Humans are nourished by relationships, and your friendship, your going out of your way to show concern, has the power to heal a person's soul."

Hen, it is so weird that to this day people who are incredibly close to us don't know how to talk to us about you or how they feel. I wish they would. It makes Mommy and me feel alone sometimes.

Speaking of Rabbis, have I got a doozy of a story for you. I was at Rosh Hashanah services on Saturday (in the chapel where we had Shabbat sing) and who was sitting there but the one and only Dr. Ali Mendelson. Your favorite resident. Here is an email that she sent to you last Rosh Hashanah.

-----Original Message-----
From: AliMerid@aol.com [mailto:AliMerid@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2002 10:26 PM
To: allengoldberg@starpower.net
Subject: Re: L'shana Tovah

Dear Henry,

Thank you so much for the lovely picture and note. You look so handsome on your first day at school! I'm going to print it and put it up on my fridge right now!!

I hope you're doing well, and that g-tube is helping you gain some weight!!

Have a happy and a sweet New Year!
(L'shana tova umetukah!)

Love, Dr. Mendelson
(Ali)

I was a little confused because I had never seen Dr. Mendelson at Adas before. We talked for a bit and she told me a fantastic story. At your funeral she was sitting next to a young man and she asked him how he knew you. He explained that he didn't know you when you were alive. But he had heard so much about this boy named Henry, about how special you were, that he had to come to your funeral to get to know you as best he could, even in death. That young man was Rabbi Jeremy Winaker, and he came to Adas when Rabbi David left. Here's the good part. Dr. Mendelson and Rabbi Winaker started dating not too long after meeting at your funeral. Isn't that amazing. Not only have you saved lives; you have helped people find love.

There is more to tell you about High Holiday services, but it is late and I have to go to bed. I sent out an email to people inviting them to your unveiling. I know I probably missed people, but hopefully everyone who would want to come will make it. The cemetery called today and asked me to come out and check out the headstone. They just got it from the bronze guys. I wonder what that will be like.

From: Allen Goldberg [mailto:allengoldberg@starpower.net]
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 11:17 PM
To: 'Friends & Family'
Subject: Please Join Us on Sunday, October 26

On Sunday, October 26, at 10:00 a.m. there will be an "Unveiling" of Henry's headstone at Judean Memorial Gardens, located at 16225 Batchelors Forest Road in Olney, Maryland. We invite you all to join us for this traditional ceremony. Please mark the date.

In addition, on Saturday, October 25 -- what would have been Henry's eighth birthday -- there will be an evening fundraising concert featuring recording artist Cindy Bullens to launch the Hope for Henry Foundation. The Foundation has been created to support programs to improve the lives and nurture the spirits of children and families living with Fanconi anemia and other life-threatening illnesses. The Foundation will continue to spread the magic that Henry brought to the world during his short life. More information on the concert will follow shortly.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and for your support during the last few years of Henry's illness and the months since his death.

Allen and Laurie and Jack and Joe

I'll write more soon.

Good night love bug.