August 12, 2006
Afternoon
At home now, Saturday. A day off from work, at long last.
The Red Sox beat the Orioles last night, and they are playing them today. I’ve been reading a lot of science fiction, and I was just thinking that writing this is a form of time travel. By the time you read this, I figure it will be at least 10 years from now, and you will know the answers to so many questions I wonder about- who became president in 2008? 2012? Do you have a brother or sister? Rick almost certainly won’t. I guess we’ll have to wait for these answers, won’t we?
Sometimes I wonder why I am doing this at all. (I haven’t told your mother I’m doing this. Maybe she will wonder why I did it, too.) I guess I want you to try and avoid the mistakes I have made. I want you to know that we all got very, very excited when we learned you were coming. I want you to know that, no matter what happens, your family will be there for you, ready to love you without hesitation.
That doesn’t, of course, mean we will always approve of everything you decide to do. My brothers made that mistake sometimes-equating love with unquestioning support. I guess everybody does-we say that if you love me, you’ll agree with everything I say. Sometimes loving someone means telling them you think they are doing the wrong thing. That hurts, when you have to say that.
The game is tied 7-7, and I am listening on my satellite radio. The Boston announcers, Joe Castiglione and Jerry Trupiano, remind me of home a little bit. They don’t really have accents at all, but Joe’s voice, especially, reminds me of listening to the radio back in Massachusetts. I don’t really miss Massachusetts that much, but when you’re from somewhere, I think you always miss it a little bit. Home will always be home. Although right now, whereever Aunt Debbie is is home to me. If she needed to live in Seattle or Phoenix, I’d move to Seattle or Phoenix-it doesn’t really matter.
Along with baseball, I have also become very interested in the history of the Civil War. Earlier, I was listening to a Civil War scholar, Dr. Gary Gallagher, answer questions about the Civil War on CSPAN radio. That was really interesting to me, but not so much to everyone. That’s part of the reason I haven’t been to Gettysburg, among other local places-because I don’t want to drag Aunt Debbie and Rick somewhere they don’t want to go.
One of the big debates we have these days is when a baby, like you, becomes a person. I don’t know the answer to that one, that’s for sure. There’s a lot of opinion on both sides. I wonder when your first thought will happen, what your first feeling will be. When you will be aware of anything at all. No one will ever know, of course, because by the time any communication can occur, a baby can’t remember anything. I know that everyone wants to make everything just perfect for you, though. That is for sure.
I am struggling with Rick, trying to get him to work on his summer homework. He’s not doing it, though. I am trying to stay calm, but not doing very well. I hope you will realize that putting things off only leads to more misery in the end. Rick hasn’t learned that yet.
Page 8 now. Only 92 to go, I guess.