Remember going to Fleet Week in S.D.?

Kieran in the Captain's chair.

A year ago today we toured a Navy ship and got to play around with a bunch of fun Marines gear during the Fleet Week Big Bay Family Festival in downtown San Diego.

 

The Navy ship tour was a little boring for both of us, but you did get to play with some of the stuff on a real, active duty Navy ship, including sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge (see the picture at right). You also look a little tired in the photos - no doubt because we had so much fun the day before, I think at Disneyland.

 

San Diego is a big Navy town with a base there and a major Marine base to the north on the way to Los Angeles.

 

Afterward, we went over the maritime museum and played on the submarines and an old sail ship (the Star of India) that had a kid's play area featuring a model pirate ship. You always loved to go to the the maritime museum (I'll be sure to post some photos of that in another entry).

 

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our experience at Fleet Week!

Meeting your (and my) grandparents

George and Ivis Mueller

I'm so happy for you, Kieran, that you will grow up getting to know your grandparents. Both sets of my grandparents had died before I was born, so I grew up without them. I guess I didn't really notice that something was missing from my life until I got to elementary school and started hearing all of the great stories that my classmates told about their grandparents.

I was fortunate enough to have a couple of sets of aunts and uncles who served in the role of grandparents for me, though, and for that I am very grateful. On my dad's side were his oldest sister and her husband, who also were my godparents (All these years later, I must say that my aunt/godmother was very similar to Jane in behavior and outlook on life.). On my mother's side were her aunt and uncle, George and Ivis Mueller; my mother actually lived with them for a couple of years when she was growing up (Ivis, or "Auntie I" as we called her, passed away a few years ago but everyone else is still alive).

We always visited both sets of aunts/uncles at least once a month. Sometimes with my mother's aunt and uncle, we'd go two or three weekends a month, a for a while, we went to visit my godparents almost every day...that's a story of compassion on the part of my parents that I'll have to tell you about one day.

I can't wait to introduce you to my parents, my godparents, and to Uncle George. It will happen very soon, I promise!

Remember playing Beep! in the car?

One of our favorite games to play in the car when we lived in Palmdale was "I Spy “Beep!”This was a variation of the classic car trip “I Spy” game.

Looking out the window, one of us in the car would select an object that is commonly repeated – a green sign if on the freeway, a light post, a blue car – and say “Beep!” whenever the car passed it. You then would call out what you thought was saying “Beep!” for.

Usually that meant lightpoles, green signs, or a certain colored car.

I can't wait to play it and lots of other car games again with you!

A bit of advice: Practice Forgiveness

Throughout your life, Kieran, people will give you cause to be angry - some will be dishonest, wome will cheat you, some even will betray you. You can spend years thinking about why they did this. Such years are wasted time, though. It is best to forgive and to move on.

By "forgive" I do not mean to naively trust so you may be taken advantage of again. Instead, I mean to accept that what they have done is because of their own weaknesses - moral, emotional, spiritual, perhaps even physical. Perhaps if their lives had taken a different course years ago, they would not have wronged you or others as just have. And perhaps in the years ahead they will realize their weakness and strengthen their moral, emotional or spiritual fiber.

In the meantime, you must not let your anger and sense of hurt over their actions to rule you. You can empower yourself by forgiving them.

With that, my son, let give you some quotations about "forgiveness" to mull over and hopefully guide you:

"This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge keeps his wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well." - Josiah Bailey

“…one who was ‘forgiven little, loves little.’” - W.P. “Ab” Abercrombie

"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." - Les Brown

"Never does the human soul appear so strong as when is foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury." - Confucius 

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe 

We finally get to see and communicate with one another!

Good news, Kieran! My attorney and I had a court hearing yesterday morning.

The court ordered that I be able to visit you once a month with the opportunity for new visits. We'll get to meet at Genesis II, a center in Minenapolis. There's no word yet on exactly when the meeting will take place, but if I have not heard by Monday, I shall follow up.

I also get to send you an email once a week. Your mother will have to set up an email for you, read it to you, and then type your reply to me. There's no word yet on exactly when we can start emailing one another, but if I have not heard by Monday, I again shall follow up. There's really no reason we couldn't start emailing one another today, after all.

I'm really looking forward to seeing you again! We have a lot of catching up to do.

Decorating your new room

Went shopping this weekend with your grandma and purchased some items for our new house. I'm gettting excited about making the purchase and decorating the place the way I've always wanted my home to look; in the past, I either was just out of college and so had no money to outfit a home or I was living with someone else and had to compromise with their tastes - not that I ever disliked any of those mutual design decisions, but I always had to go with my second choice on everything.

I'm waiting to buy anything for your room, though - I want you to have a say in how you decorate it, such as the bedspread and posters and bathroom fixtures (yes, there's a half bath for you - sink, toilet, shower stall). We'll have lots of fun looking for stuff and decorating it.

Your nursery was a Classic Pooh and very cute. But it mainly was decorated to please your mother and me. I have a few of the items from the nursery and some pictures of it packed away. When we lived in the green house in Lancaster, your room had Star Wars decor and was red, white and blue. Jane and I were going to decorate your room at the Palmdale condo in football decor; she had picked out (and even purchased) this wonderful bedspread, lamp and other items, but we all know how that turned out.

Anyway, I'm thinking football again - except you had asked for an NFL helmet design. But I'm wide open to whatever you might like. And if you can;t decide, I may go with a surfer look! :)

My latest effort to see you again

Tomorrow is a big day for us, Kieran. My attorney and I are heading back to court for a hearing so we can see one another again.

We're asking for: the right to visit one another; the right for me to call you by telephone each night; that your mother write a weekly email updating me on your health and schooling.

Usually the court's goal is to reunite children with their parents; those who've written the law understand that families are important in people's lives. There are laws, though, to protect children who've been abused that result in families staying apart; unfortunately, sometimes angry people misuse those laws to keep children and their parents apart. In the long run, the court system typically recognizes this misuse, so say strong - time is on our side, and we will prevail.

In my next entry, I'll tell you how it all turns out. My fingers are crossed!