Dear Joseph and Lucia,

Here we are at the beginning of a new day.  I hope you are both enjoying summer vacation.  I found a few other photos to share with you.  It’s the house in Ball Ground.  Those are probably the years you remember most.  I spent a lot of time rebuilding this house from the inside out.

So far I’ve tried to bring up happy memories, but there are many others that come to mind.  Lucia, you always wanted to lay in bed with us.  You were so stubborn.  You would sneak out of bed and just stand outside our door.  I always heard you.  It was a battle to get you to sleep in your own room.  You would fuss so hard it brought you to throw up on occasion.  Every time, I would be there and rush you to the bathroom.  I’d wash you, change your sheets and do my best to calm you.  By then you usually just went out like a light after all the fuss.

Joseph, I don’t remember what you did wrong one day, but it was enough to warrant a spanking when I got home from work.  You were punished to your room until I got home. When I came into your room, you were in tears.  I asked you what you did wrong and if you knew it was wrong.  You admitted to everything. I put you over my lap and lightly tapped you with my belt.  Your face was beaming and running with tears.

Lucia, when you and Joseph were taking karate class, I used to let you practice your punches on my arm.  One day when I was cooking dinner, all I heard was “Key-eye”.  The next the I knew you punched me right in my privates. After I got off the floor, I had to make sure you only practiced your punches when I was ready.

See, not all memories are necessarily happy ones, but they are moments in time that stand out.  It’s important to understand that all these experiences make you who you are today.  Sometimes, what you think you remember might just be from a story you’ve heard many times. So think carefully about what really happened and what you have been told what happened.

Back to work.

Love,
Dad