I made a book for Papa Sy with photos that I've taken at St. Michaels over the years. It was nice that it came just as he was having his procedure done for his heart. He is out there right now so he doesn't have to depend on pictures to enjoy how beautiful it is.

St. Michaels

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Hen, this is something I started writing a while ago.

I am writing to you high above the earth. I am on an airplane flying to Los Angeles. We are flying straight into the “season of sadness” which is October (your birthday) to December (your deathday). This is the time of year where feelings about you are intensified – which means in this case, they get stronger. Just the other day I was on the bus on my way home and I started to cry.

Here is what happened… I was listening to Bruce Springsteen and thinking about how Jack is going to go to his first rock concert. If you haven’t guessed, I am very excited for him. I quickly switched to thinking how this would have been your first real concert too. You went to see Lucinda Williams once, but you were in a car seat so that doesn’t really count.

In Mom’s eulogy she said you were the encore of a Springsteen show.

Then I clicked around on the iPod to find this band I like called Marah. Mom and I went to see them the other night in Virginia. I have a short attention span and switch between songs the way I switch channels on TV. They have a song called Crying on an Airplane. That made me think about all of the times that I have been on an airplane and started thinking about you and ended up crying. I don’t know if it is looking at the clouds or feeling just very alone, but I have these “Henry Moments” where I feel close to you and very sad at the same time.

Mom told me how she ended up crying the other day. I think she described to me the “progression.” Here is how it went. We were having everyone over for to eat on Sunday morning, more on that later, and Mom was thinking what to make. She thought about something that Beth (Oh Dear) cooks for brunches and that made her think about how you used to call her “Bethie.” That’s all it took.

A few days ago, opening up the computer made me sad. I looked at the photo on my desktop of Mom, Jack, Joe and me at the National’s game when the computer screen warmed up. We all look so happy and we are. But you are so missing.

Then the other night at dinner. It wasn’t that we were all so happy. It was just that you and your personality were missing. We were all sitting around the table and talking and I felt that you were not there. You were the perfect fit between Jack and Joe. You would’ve kept the peace. It’s like a three-legged dog. He gets around okay but you're very aware that something is missing.

And then there was last weekend. I did that 100 mile bike ride I have done the past couple of years. Steven broke his wrist so he couldn’t make it, but Jake’s dad, Richard came. We drove in the Defender to St. Michaels and met Mom, the guys and Nana and Papa. The weather was fantabulous. Here is a picture Mom took.



Driving around in the Defender without the top on has been a blast. It is not a very sensible car, but it is a very fun car. Thanks to the drought -- which means it isn't raining -- and how warm it has stayed, we have been able to drive around “topless” for a long time now. Mom and Jack and Joe love it, and that makes me very happy. Jack wants us to get a license plate that says, "Ha Beast," which would be Hebrew for "The Beast." I may do that.



There are no airbags so Jack and Joe are okay to sit in the front seat. I have taught them the whole concept of "Shotgun." If you want to sit in the passenger seat in front you need to call "Shotgun" when you are in sight of the truck. There is a lot of competition for that front seat, but the back is pretty cool. There is a middle seat, but there are also benches on the side and you get to sit facing in.

I bring this up a lot, but I am glad that Mark sat you in the front seat of the car when he took you out for pancakes.

I think I know why Mom is really into the truck. Here is a picture of the jeep that Mom always told us about. The one that they had at their farm in Virginia when she was growing up. It feels like we are repeating history.



And you have to remember this picture. It is in the living room. It is one of my favorites of Mom from growing up. Not sure I ever noticed the jeep behind her.



The next morning Richard and went to Salisbury for the bike ride, and Mom and the guys had a lazy day with Nana and Papa. The weather was beautiful. It has rained terribly the last two years, so this was especially nice.

Richard and I rode faster than I have before. He was great at pushing me. Sometimes you need to get pushed.



After the ride we drove back to Washington because it was Joe’s birthday. It was quite the perfect, busy - usual - weekend.

The more perfect it is the more I think of you. They are twins.

I have more that I have written and I will put that in another post.

The Talbot County fair, which was pretty yucky, reminded me of when you and I went to the Minnesota State Fair - anything on a stick, and earlier when you, Jack and I went to the Montgomery County Fair. Some guy operating a ride at the Minnesota State Fair wasn't nice to us. I remember calling Mom from the fair. I never use the cellphone so it must have been pretty bad.

Here is you at the Montgomery County Fair. That's a really good one.

We are in St. Michaels for the weekend. Today we went to the county fair.



Papa Teddy got Joe a pitching machine which has been a "big hit." Sorry, bad joke. The machine throws the ball 50 miles an hour, and Joe has no trouble hitting it. When we point it up toward the ski the machine throws great pop-ups. I was putting the balls in rapid-fire and Joe was having a blast catching them.

On Saturday morning I woke up to Joe standing beside the bed holding my glove. I said this to you once before, but your little brother is so much like a puppy. Instead of bringing a leash to get someone to take him for a walk, Joe brings a baseball glove so someone - me - will pitch to him or play catch.

After a spectacular catch I said to your brother that I am not sure what Micky Mantle looked like when he was a five year old, but I bet he looked something like Joe.

Joe quickly replied that Micky Mantle didn't look like Joe when he was five because Micky had blonde hair. That was great.

In the car on the way to St. Michaels, Joe said that he wished that you had lived until you were fourteen. I asked if it was so that you would know Joe when he was 8, but that wasn't really his thinking. I am not sure how he picked 14.

This is a video from the Super Hero party that we had a few weeks ago at Georgetown. Hackensack and Minnesota had parties too. The party was in the Lombardi clinic, but this movie is from upstairs on the 5th floor. We took the party to the kids who were in isolation and couldn't come to clinic.





"Henry's spirit will live on."

We went out to the cemetery on Sunday. The weather was really nice. We visited Zack Klein, who is so close to you now. I tried to help Zack's mom and dad get something special on his headstone. Unfortunately, it isn't going to happen. I can understand why, but it is still a disappointment.

The next thing that I am trying to make happen is making sure Molly and her mom meet Jon Bon Jovi. That should happen in July. I cannot fail. I'll keep you posted.

I have been spending a lot of time organizing our pictures. There is (are?) a ton. Which is good. I am going to make a big "Henry at St. Michaels" photo book to put out there. I am going to match pictures of you taken in St. Michaels with nice pictures of birds and trees and things that we've taken out there.

Last week was a tough Henry week. Mom and I spent a lot of time thinking of you and crying. Mom rewrote one of the chapters of her book and it is great. It is about you and Bella. All that came from nowhere. I am glad it happened.

I have an old friend named Noah, like the guy with the ark, and he just sent me some pictures from the time we worked together at VarsityBooks. You and Jack were well known by everyone there. I took you to all of the stuff we used to do together, like picnics and go to baseball games.

Here are some of the pictures that Noah sent. Jack looks like he is auditioning for American Idol.







That's you in Tim's arms. I guess you're being a bit camera shy. That's rare. Fortunately.



We are going to see Tim and Catherine's new baby, Alison, this weekend out at St. Michaels.



She is brand-spanking, new, fresh-out-of-the-oven.

Here is you in a less-than-shy moment. Isn't this photo awesome. Look at that Henry smile you've got working. I showed this to Mom, and it made her so happy. It is like a present to get something like this - a picture of you we've never seen.



I am going to get a bunch of tickets for the Nationals next year. They are moving into a brand new stadium. My friend Steve showed me this cool website were you can watch the stadium being built. Steve and I grew up together. We used to play ping pong all the time in our basement. He had a Senators pennant hanging in his room.

Clark Construction: Construction Camera



Joe and I went to a game last weekend. Uncle Andrew, Aunt Tracy, Emma and Sam were at the same game. They moved from their seats and came and sat with us. Hopefully we can go together to games next season at the new ballpark. I will miss RFK. I've seen many great Redskins games there and Senators and Nationals games.

I haven't written you for a long time. I just keep talking to you in my head and writing these notes on scraps of paper that I have all over the place.

I finally decided it was time to get back to it. Here goes.

We went to St. Michaels this weekend for Memorial Day. It was Papa Sy's 77th birthday.



Andrew and Tracy and your cousins were there. Our friends Hugh and Mary Beth and their family rented a house nearby and spent a lot of time with us. Nice.

We did the usual stuff. Rode bikes, played baseball, saw a lot of animals, went kayaking (just me -- no-one ever wants to go with me -- I am officially "Chopped Liver"), put boats in the water and stuffed ourselves silly.

This snake was on the driveway when we came home from riding our bikes into town. He was "sunning" himself. Joe and Sam and I watched him until he slithered away.



This is a bird that Joe and I found in the batting cage at the local St. Michael's high school. We couldn't hit 'cause we didn't want to hit the bird.



The bird wasn't moving. He didn't seem like he could or that he wanted to fly. I opened up the netting to let him out and he didn't budge. It was then that I realized that the bird was staying inside the batting cage for protection.

I told Nana about the bird and she said she had a friend who "rescues" birds. I went back later on to put the bird in a box to bring to Nana's friend and the bird had died. When Joe was going to bed that night I asked him what the highlight of the day had been. He said, "the bird." I didn't have the heart to tell him what had happened.



This is a really blurry picture of the Vice President's helicopter over Papa Sy's house. I recognized the whirr of the rotors from home. His helicopter is the only thing that can fly over our house in DC and the house in St. Michaels.

The Vice President gave a talk to the soldiers graduating West Point in the morning and by the afternoon he was in St. Michaels. Mom said that he lands at the Inn at Perry Cabin and then drives up to his house. I still want to get the ride from our street in Washington to here in the helicopter. No traffic!



Uncle Andrew and I helped Papa Sy put the Tashmoo in the water. The battery was dead so I had to paddle it to the dock. We got Rulen the Waves in halfway. It is a great adventure helping Papa Sy with all of these boats. We needed a higher tide to carry the sailboat off the trailer. I felt bad leaving Papa Sy without having gotten that boat all the way in.



The pool was freezing but that didn't stop your brothers and your cousins. I was in the Broad Creek a bit and that was fine. A lot of muck and ooze but no jelly fish, so I was happy. Joe looks pretty happy here.



Tonight is Michael's birthday. He is 13. A real teenager or a Jewish man, take your pick. His other grandparents, Arlene and Harvey, are having a pool party at their house tonight. We'll be seeing everyone all over again.

Some of the notes I am keeping are just things that I want to tell you about your brothers. Here goes:





-Every morning I find an entire playground's worth of wood chips in Joe's sneakers. For the life of me I don't know how he walks around like that all day and doesn't seem to notice or complain.

-Jack did incredibly well on his tests in school. He is really smart. I am proud of him. He is way smarter than me. Yesterday he started telling me that he thinks about what happens in different dimensions. I don't even know what other dimensions there are. He explained to me that there are other universes and he thinks about what those other universes are like.



-Joe has decorated his room in pictures of athletes that he has cut out of magazines and books.

-Your brothers, both of 'em, won't wear jeans.

-Joe has the bad habit of admiring his hits in baseball. Mom explains that he is the only player who turns triples into singles because he stands at the plate after he hits the ball to watch how far it goes. He reminds me a bit of Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox.



-Jack is a big fan of comedy. He listens to Steve Martin, Bill Cosby and Monty Python.



-Joe isn't big on learning to swim or ride a bike. This frustrates me a lot but I know it is only a matter of time. Patience. He can't go through life not knowing how to ride a bike, right?

-Both guys and Mom became fans of this show called American Idol. Joe was crushed when his favorite, a guy named Blake, didn't win.

-Jack watches the Simpsons... maybe too much. The Simpsons Movie is coming out soon.



-Joe watches SportsCenter all the time. Our routine is that he comes down for breakfast and we watch the highlights together. He always asks me "Who won," and I try to teach him to read the scores and learn for himself.

-Jack had a ceremony at school where he and his classmates got their own Chumashim. What was interesting for me is that when the whole class was singing I could hear Jack's voice separate from everyone else. I guess that is what being a parent is.



-Joe is obsessed with jigsaw puzzles. He went from ones with a few pieces, to 100 pieces to 200 pieces and I think he is working on a 500 piece one. Mom helps him out, but he is good on his own.

-Jack likes the Red Sox and Joe is a Yankees fan (I am rooting for the Nats and wish they would too)

So I guess what I want to report to you Big Brother, is that your two younger brothers are doing great. Jack needs to be a little nicer to Joe but otherwise, they're cool.

Aside from Mom's trip to China... here are some pictures from that...













...there is other big news that I didn't report. First, Zhenny left us. She wasn't working enough hours, so she needed to go to a family who needed her more often. You were the one who told me to hire Zhenny. I still remember calling her from Minnesota to tell her that we were coming home without you. She had only been working with us for a few weeks at that point. That was hard. We are going to miss her - Joe most of all. They have an incredibly close bond and Joe is so tight with her husband Peter and her son Jeff. Hopefully, Zhenny can come over to babysit from time to time.

The other really, really big news is that Papa Teddy is getting married to his friend Jeri. That is happening in June. I am Best Man. I am really happy for him.

Papa Teddy and Jeri just went to Italy for a visit. Here are some pictures of their trip.







Aunt Abby, Uncle Andy, Cousin Michael, Rachel, Joshua and little Noah are heading to Italy next month. Bill and Cristina went to Italy this weekend for a few days themselves. Seems like the place to be. I told Mom that I'd like to go to Israel after we go to Spain next summer with everyone for the 10th Anniversary of Bill and Cristina's wedding. You and Grandma are the ones who made the original trip who won't be there for the reunion.

 

That's a picture of you and me on a boat from that trip.

Hey, we had 3 Israeli girls stay at our house this weekend. They are going into the army soon and before they start their service they travel to the United States for a while. I'm glad we were able to host them. They said to visit when we go to Israel. Maybe we will.