Storytelling

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Dear Jack: You are Now a Yellow Belt in Taekwondo!

10 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack,

You have been faithfully committed to going to your weekly Taekwondo lessons at Red Tiger Martial Arts for nearly 3 months now- and this past week, your hard work paid off!

I was there to see you successfully pass your yellow belt testing; which included being able to do your poomsae (in English, “patterns” or “forms”) of blocks, punches, and kicks- as well as reciting several phrases in Korean, and most excitedly… breaking through a board on your first try!

Taekwondo is definitely your thing. You have discovered the perfect extracurricular activity to challenge you physically and mentally.

I am so proud to be there for each of your lessons- and especially your first belt testing- from white to yellow belt!

Love,

Daddy

 

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Dear Jack: Your First Paid Job, Pet Sitting

10 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack,

This month was historic for you, in that it made the first time you truly had a paying job!

When you friend Landon’s family went out of the state for a week, it was up to you go to their house each day to feed their 3 cats- as well as a huge tank full of fish.

You took special care in making sure you could locate all 3 cats before we left their house each day. A few days in, you were able to more predictably figure out where each of the cats were hanging out; whether it was under the couch or on top of a bunk bed.

I am proud of you!

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: You Asked Me, “How Can a Skeleton Believe in Heaven?”

5 years, 5 months.

Dear Holly,

To my surprise, this Halloween season has apparently sparked some theological discussions I barely feel qualified to answer.

I am assuming your recent questions have been inspired by all the Halloween decorations in our neighborhood, which include plenty of skeletons and ghosts.

My favorite question of yours:

“Daddy, how can a skeleton believe in Heaven?”

I’m pretty sure that you’ve been swapping the word “skeleton” for the word “person”, as you have asked me several times now, “Daddy, are we really just skeletons?”

The best I could explain it was that yes, we are skeletons, but the spirit inside of us makes us actually alive; that’s sort of like the ghost decorations you’ve been seeing. I went on to explain that basically, if you combine a skeleton and a ghost, that’s more like a real person.

You went along with my narrative, then followed up with, “But Daddy, how do the skeletons believe if they don’t have a brain?”

Good point. My logic involving skeletons and ghosts didn’t quite provide a reasonable enough explanation.

So I asked you, “Holly, do you believe in Heaven?”

You immediately shook your head, yes.

I responded, “Then that’s all that matters.”

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: Carving a Jack-O-Lantern with Papa

10 years, 10 months.

While Nonna was inside the house, painting baby pumpkins with Nonna in the kitchen, you were outside in the front yard with Papa carving up our family’s official Jack-O-Lantern for this Halloween season.

Thanks to some cheap props from the dollar store, you two were able to make a really cool, and scary, Jack-O-Lantern for us to display out on our front porch.

And that carved pumpkin alone serves as the extent of our family’s Halloween decorations, despite being surrounded by neighbors, and neighborhoods, of just about every other house decked out in huge inflatables and plastic skeletons in their front yards!

Dear Jack,

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: Showing Your Sister How to Play at a Pumpkin Patch

10 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

It is our tradition as a family to visit one of the nearby pumpkin patches each Fall season. This year, with your sister being a 5 year-old girl, not a preschooler, it was clear she was interested in participating in more adventure than in previous years there.

You were sure to show her the way- and she was just as eager to follow you.

Whether it was going into the spooky house, jumping off the mountain of hay, and going down the huge tunnel slide together.

I loved being able to watch the two of you have fun together.

Love,

Daddy