I ran into an old friend this morning when I was walking home from the gym. We worked on a campaign together. We tried to get a man named Walter Mondale elected president in 1984. The campaign headquarters were in Glover Park and Mondale was from Minnesota. My favorite places.

I hadn't seen my friend in a lot of years. You can guess how many when I tell you that he asked how you were.

I said that you had died. Four years ago, though I am so not counting. I thanked him for asking about you.

I like running into friends from the past. A lot of our friends are moving out of the neighborhood. They just opened the first Ethanol gas station in Washington at the Chevron station on the corner. Ethanol is gas that has corn in it. It is supposed to be good for the environment or something. They had a film crew there the other night when we walked over to get ice cream at Max's.

Here is the news story.

Ethanol arrives in D.C. at $2.55 a gallon
June 29, 2007

By Adam Terese - The first ethanol fueling station in the District opened for drivers yesterday, joining a small — but growing — group of stations nationwide selling the biofuel.

The Georgetown Chevron on Wisconsin Avenue will sell VeraSun's branded VE85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, in addition to regular gas. The price yesterday was $2.55 a gallon, 62 cents cheaper than $3.17 a gallon for regular gasoline.

The Navy Exchange Gas Station near the Pentagon in Arlington also sells E85, as do stations in Rockville, Annapolis and Fort Meade, Md., according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition.

The cleaner-burning ethanol fuel is an environmentally friendly way to move toward energy independence, said Patrick Farrell, an Enterprise Rent-A-Car spokesman.

"We view this as an opportunity to bring some exposure, to jump-start the initiative," Mr. Farrell said.

I am sad that our friends are moving away from Glover Park. Even though I told you we'd never ever move, Mom and I looked at a house in Maryland last week. It was in Garrett Park. I really like it there. It feels like a 1950s neighborhood. There are so many trees, there is a commuter train station and they don't deliver the mail to your house - you have to pick it up at the post office.



What is nice is that Jack has friends from school who live there. That is why we looked at the house. It is hard to be a kid growing up in the city. Especially when there aren't many or any other kids living nearby.

I've told you before that we never want to leave our house because of all of the memories of you there. So it was good that when we drove on Wisconsin Avenue near Garrett Park there was a ton of traffic, and when we looked at the house it smelled like cats. That was an easy "deal breaker" for us. We didn't fall in love with it, so we didn't have to make any hard decisions.

We went to the JPDS Purim Ball last night. The Mintz's, Moskowitz's and Susan took out an ad in the program remembering you. That is so nice of them. There was an auction and we bought a locker. That means we get to put a plaque on one of the lockers at school. I told Mom that we should just put something that includes your name, and Jack and Joe's names on it. Something like, "This locker smells because Henry, Jack and Joe Strongin Goldberg had their stinky stuff in it." I don't know if they'd go for that. No-one would want to use it. We'll see.

The guest of honor last night was the Mayor of Washington, DC. His name is Adrian Fenty. You met the old mayor, Anthony Williams, at Glover Park Day one year. This new guy is young, smart and a really hard worker. He hasn't been on the job too long.

This is a picture of Mom and Caryn Pass talking to the Mayor last night. That is the back of Mom's head.



On Friday, the Mayor came to school and talked to JPDS students and to students from schools nearby who were invited. Jack asked the Mayor how he likes being mayor. The Mayor said it is fun. This was a story from the newspaper about the visit. You can see Jake on the far right in the top photo. When I click on this and see a big version of the story, I can see Maxwell on the left of the Mayor and David Lane to the right of the Mayor in the bottom picture. I gotta figure out how to get the photos to be bigger without clicking.

Photo of the day. I was swinging your David Ortiz bat this weekend. It feels nice. I wish it wasn't just gathering dust in my closet. Maybe Jack or Joe will use it when they get older. I think the Glover Park league has switched from aluminum bats to wood.

We went on a hike with Jack and Joe through the woods of Glover Archibold Park at the end of 39th Street. It was fun. The leaves were falling from the trees like snow. The difference was they made a lot of noise as they fell. I thought back to a memory I have of me carrying you out of the house while it was snowing. I told you to look up and try to catch snowflakes in your mouth. I was pretty worried about stuff that went into your body so that was either before your transplant or I thought the snow that was falling wasn't too dirty or polluted. Sometimes I got carried away. There was one time after you had your transplant and we were in your hospital room and I was trying to get you to a pill because your blood pressure had gotten too high. It was the middle of the night and neither of us was getting any sleep and by accident I dropped it on the floor. I picked it up and gave it to you to take. After you took it your blood pressure went down but I couldn't shake the idea that you might get sick (and maybe die) from a germ that got on the pill when it hit the floor. I held my breath for days worrying that you were going to get an infection. You didn't.

Jack learned two things on the hike



1. How to blow through an empty acorn top and whistle
2. How to burn a leaf with a magnifying glass and the sun.

I keep this book right by my bed.



Maybe one day Jack and I will hike the Appalachian Trail. I told you in one of my earlier letters that I had wanted to do it with you when you got better. Maybe Jack and I can collect pledges for every mile we hike and raise money for the Hope for Henry Foundation. We'll see. Whatever he wants to do.

This is strange. Everyone is thinking about you right now and everyone is sad. Mom, me, Jack, Ari, Simon, Michael. I think it is because the weather got a little cool and it felt like fall. The start of school and change of seasons made us really notice that you are gone. Even though we miss you everyday, it just gets more intense sometimes. I'm kinda miserable. Mom is too. Joe is being a typical 2 year old and demanding a lot of attention and patience. That is making things hard.

We went with Michael to Glover Park Day yesterday. The first one you've ever missed. There was a climbing wall that was really cool. Michael and Jack both made it to the top. The mayor of Washington was there and he congratulated Jack for getting all the way up. That was neat and nice. We went out for ice cream at Max's to top off the day. The weather was perfect. It was made for you.

The day after I wrote you about Jack and the doorknob, Joe went into your room and broke two of Jack's bobblehead dolls. I screwed up. Boy, did I feel terrible for Jack. Lesson: listen to Jack and act quicker.

I don't know when or how I'll get out of this funk. I need to come out there. I don't know what that will do, but I just need to see you.

I can't even describe how I feel I am so sad. Maybe Jack said it best when he said he was "uncomfortable" in the room without you.

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.

Dear Henry:

I didn't write to you very much last week because I was going to bed very early. I had to wake up each morning a little after 5 am because I was going down to the Potomac river in Georgetown for sculling lessons. A scull is this teeny tiny boat and you need lessons to learn how to row it. I passed the beginners class and got a card that lets me rent sculls without an instructor.



I have this image in my mind of going out in both St. Michaels and Georgetown, and just being alone with my thoughts and the water. Right now my thoughts are all about not falling in so I have a long ways to go. I was looking for some books that might have a good Pokeball image for the headstone people and I came across this book on sculling. It seems I am not the only 40 year old who thought of this.



So Hen, check this out. We had a little excitement today worthy of the crocodile hunter, crikey.

Picture this. The other week we ripped out the cabinet in your bathroom to replace it with something nicer. I put the old cabinet out on the deck off the kitchen. I figured that I'd take it to the dump with some of the junk that we cleared from the basement. Well it seems that this abandoned, empty bathroom cabinet makes the ideal nesting place for possums.

Check out these little rippers.



I called the people who take care of rescuing wild animals in Washington, DC and they said they were too busy to come get the possums. They suggested we just relocate them ourselves. We asked David Lane if he wanted to help. He ran over, and we all set out for Glover Park, down at the end of 39th Street.



When we got there I tipped the cabinet over. When the doors swung open the wee blokes hit the ground and scampered off. The funny thing is that one headed not into the woods but into someone's backyard. Oh well, we tried.



Do you remember the possum that you and Mom and I watched that night outside the kitchen. These guys might have been her babies. I hope that everyone finds each other.

Rachel is sleeping over tonight. She is sleeping in your bed. Rachel brought a photo of Aunt Abby to keep her company. The red box is Jack's memory box of you filled with some of your things.



I better go help Mom get Rach and Jack to bed.

Good night.

Love,

Dad

Dear Henry:

The reason that I didn't write the past couple of days is because Mom and I went away together. We went to an island. It was really beautiful. You would have liked it. We went away for the first time since you were born. We used to worry about going too far and we had to cancel a lot of plans. Mom and I went in the water with snorkels and saw beautiful starfish and swam with a giant sea turtle.

We read a lot of books. I read a book by someone named Jonathan Safran Foer who went to the Gan, like you. He went to the Gan a while ago and was in Cousin Samantha's class. I was a little worried about Mom reading it after I was finished because a lot of people in the book die terrible deaths. But I gave it to her and when she started it I began a book written by a woman who lives here in Glover Park. Cindy, Yuri, Anna and Nicky Picky lived next door to her before they moved. Her name is Laura Hillenbrand. The book is really good. It about a horse named Seabiscuit. You would have liked it. There is a movie coming out soon that is based on the book. The story is about Seabiscuit, who was a great racehorse, and the man who owned Seabiscuit and the men who rode him in races. The man who owned Seabiscuit lost his son in an accident. That was in the very beginning of the book, but I didn't get too sad reading that. The doctors always told us that you might not grow to be too big, so I thought you could be someone who races horses. They're called jockeys and they need to be not too big. Or you could have been an author like Jonathan Foer. I don't think he had Liane as a teacher. I used to think you could be anything you wanted to be. On our vacation there were a few times where I started to think that now you might be anything I want you to be. Maybe you were the turtle who swam with us or one of the beautiful birds we saw. I don't really believe you are a bird or a turtle, but I get a strange/funny/good feeling sometimes when a bird flies up on the window sill or a squirrel shows up outside the kitchen. I think about you.

One of the other things we did when we were there was go sailing on a Hinkley yacht. It's a big sail boat. I asked Papa Sy if I could marry Mommy when I was onboard Uncle Andy's daddy's Hinkley. Papa Sy didn't know what to make of me and my wanting to marry Mommy. He almost marched me off the dock, where the boat was tied up, and into the water. There is a whole funny story that I would probably would have told you a million times. There are stories that kids hear from their parent's over and over. It is like the parents are making sure the kids know the history of the family. Mostly they are funny stories. Your life and your death are going to be very special stories that we tell Joe, and even Jack. I hope we don't do it so often the boys get tired of it, or too sad. We'll do it right.

When we met people for the first time at the place where we were staying Mom would explain that we have 3 boys aged 1, 6 and 7. I wonder what happens after your birthday. Will Mom say we have kids aged 2, 7 and 8 or will she say that our kids are 2,7 and 7 years old? Then people will think we have twins. How is that going to work. I'll just follow Mom's lead on this

I had a really good time on our vacation, which is what I say to people when they ask. What I don't tell anyone is that it really wasn't an easy trip for me or for Mom. Mom says that it was the first time that we didn't have to "pull it together" and be strong because we have to take care of Jack and Joe or be at our jobs. We could just let go. I was sad a lot and I even started having trouble sleeping like I did right after you died. I had nightmares and I would wake up and not be able to fall back to sleep. What was really hard was the thought of coming home and you not being here. I was excited to see Joe and Jack, but in the airport I got panicked that you would not be at the house. It happened to me when I was in the newsstand getting a magazine. It went away after a little while, but I was very scared. I really want to get to the time where thinking of you makes me happy not sad.

There is something wrong with Aunt Abby's back. She hurts a lot. Her doctor wants to do surgery tomorrow. She is worried that she won't wake up. I told her that your favorite thing was to take sleepy medicine. I don't know why I just said "sleepy medicine" when you always called it by its real name, "anesthesia." Maybe I was worried that I wouldn't spell it right. You loved to try the different flavors, which I think was just chapstick spread on the rim of the mask. If you were here you'd be telling Aunt Abby to go for the Root Beer and Bubble Gum flavors. She'll be okay.

She'll be strong like you. I'll be strong like you and for you now that I'm back.

I still have a lot more to write. Tomorrow.

Good night.

Dad