My service in the Army National Guard

My name tag (top), rank (bottom left) and
unit insignia (bottom right) from my uniform.

You might remember from our days of playing with toy soldiers that I mentioned I was in the Army. I think you once even used some Army stickers to create a picture of me!

I joined the Wisconsin Army Naitonal Guard in December 1982, when I was just a junior in high school! The following summer, I went to boot camp in Fort Benning, Ga. When I came back, I did my senior year of high school in 1983-84 and after graduating went back to Fort Benning in summer 1984 to complete boot camp with my Advanced Individual Training course.

My job - or "MOS" - was 11Bravo, meaning infantryman. I served at the armory in Menomonie, Wisconsin, and eventually reached the rank of sergeant. For a couple of years, when I lived in New Mexico, I served in the New Mexico Army National Guard in Deming. I got out in July 1997.

I am very proud of my service and of all others who've served, no matter what branch (Though the Army is the best!). Should you one day decide to serve in our nation's armed forces, I will be very proud of you, too!

A rose of hope from our cherished past

Here's another old photo I stumbled upon, one of a blooming rose in a row of flower bushes that grew in front of our house when we lived in Lnacaster, California (You always called it the "green house" because it was painted green!). I believe htis photo was taken in September 2010.

For me, this blooming flower is a symbol of hope of when we'll be able to see one another again, unfettered by the lies others have told. We've shared a lot, my son, and though some hate me so much that they're willing to hurt you by keeping us apart, I know that one day truth and justice will prevail.

When that day finally arrives, the first place I will take you is to where I grew up, so you may meet your Grandma and Grandpa Bignell, who also have suffered from other peoples' hatred because they have not been able to see you. If we are there in spring, summer or early autumn, one thing you will notice are all of the wonderful flowers your grandma has planted. It is quite impressive, and the varieties all are native Wisconsin plants that attract quite a number of birds and butterflies. There are no roses, but the blooms are beautiful nonetheless.

I love you, Kieran!

Remember seeing SpaceShipTwo?

Standing on front of SpaceShip Two,
"a pretty cool spaceship" as you described it.

Two years ago today you got to see what probably will be the first privately owned spaceship to take people into space!

Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo was on display at the Mojave Air and Space Show in Mojave, Calif. This event was a monthly air show and fly-in that we usually tried to attend.

It was a very cold day, though! We didn't stay very long because we both were freezing (as the picture above shows).

Still, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to see such a historic craft. SpaceShip One became the first prviately owned spaceship to carry people into space and was laucnhed from this air and space port several years ago.

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our outing!

Birds and other animals on Grandma's farm

I remember how much you like birds when growing up - you loved to hear them sing and watch them fly whenever we went on hikes or into our backyard. Perhaps it was just because your were a toddler and preschooler, but I suspect we share a love of nature.

You would like visiting Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's. They have a lot of bird feeders, and so there are birds galore in their yard, even during the winter. We have a dozen red cardinals, a dozen bluejays, a woodpecker, and a bunch of smaller birds that I think are called junkos. In the fields surrounding the house are red-tailed hawks and bald eagles.

There are lots of other animals, too. We have a family of bunny rabbits that live in the yard. Deer also come up to the house and during the warm season can be seen in the fields The gold of sunset makes their brown bodies almost glow in the distance. For a while, we even had a woodchuck living nearby (Can you say "How much wood can a woodhcuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood" three times really fast?)!

I can't wait to show you all of this and enjoy watching all of these animals with you!

'Star Trek' book makes me think of you!

This past week I've been reading a most wonderful book about a mother and her two sons who all became "Star Trek" fans and the lessons in life they learned from the TV show. They discovered a lot about themselves, their love for one another, and the world around them as they watched the show together and went to places like "Star Trek" conventions to enjoy their newfound common interest. The book was called "Love Letters to Star Trek."

In many ways, their adventures reminded me of stuff we had done together. For example, we'd go to Vasquez Rocks (which you called the "Kirk Rocks") and climb around where the Gorn and Captain Kirk fought or where our intrepid captain fought the Klingons. Another time we went to the air show in Mojave and met the actor who played Worf (He signed your Worf action figure!).

And of course we played and played "Star Trek," taking our action figures on adventures, sometimes playing "monster" that attacked our crew members, other times having them explore strange new worlds.

I can;t wait until you're a little older so we can discuss the finer points of "Star Trek" and go on even more adventures together!

My email sent to you on Feb. 16, 2013

Here is my email sent to you today, just in case you are not allowed to see it:

Hi Kieran,

How are you doing? I’m doing fine, though I miss you terribly. I can’t wait to see you again on March 1!

Did you have a great Valentine’s Day party at school? Did you to exchange valentine cards and have fun snacks? What kind of valentine cards did you hand out? When I was a little boy your age, I always wanted to give out “Star Trek” valentine day cards, but they didn’t sell any…highly illogical, if you ask me.

How is school going? What kinds of things are you learning about? Kindergarten today is much different than what it was like when I went to school. Back in my day, most of our time was spent playing with only maybe an hour or so actually doing school work. We also had nap time. I didn’t always like nap time because it interrupted my playing!

When we did art projects, especially painting, we had to wear “aprons” so we didn’t get paints on our clothes. Do you know what we used for “aprons”? We got to wear one of our dad’s old shirts that he no longer wanted! We’d put the shirt on backwards so that it entirely covered the front of our clothing.

Have you had a chance to visit places like the zoo, museums or amusement parks in Minneapolis-St. Paul? I would love to hear about your adventures. I have not really done any of that as I’ve been going to lots of book stores and coffeehouses where I promote the books I’ve written.

I bet you are very excited about next week as it’s your birthday! I can’t believe you’re six already! Do you have a birthday party planned? Last year we celebrated your birthday at Chuck E Cheese in Lancaster. You might recall that you received a Transformer and an art supply set for gifts. We had lots of fun playing all of the games. When we are together again, we’ll have lots of fun celebrating your birthdays. Grandma and Grandpa Bignell always throw special birthday parties for their grandchildren in which they invite over the whole family, make a special meal, have a big birthday cake, and exchange presents. Your cousin Bryan just had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. He turned 13 and got a wallet, Legos, cash and cards galore.

Before closing this letter, I want you to know that I love you very much. I always have loved you and always will. I know this is a very difficult time for you, and I am working very hard every day to resolve this situation. I always have enjoyed our time together and look forward to the many, many fun days we have ahead together.

One way to help us through this time is for us to exchange emails. Unfortunately, I have not received any emails from you for the past seven weeks. I know you want to write emails back. Perhaps this week your responses to my emails will be sent to me as you wish.

Love,

Dad

Getting together on Wednesday nights

One year ago today we got to spend the evening together. It was a Wednesday night, and I picked you up after preschool. I was living in the house off of Avenue K in Lancaster at the time.

We had a great time playing with all of the new toys we'd picked up since Christmas; I remember us having adventures with the "Star Trek" action figures and the Sheriff Jack cowboy set we got at the Hart Ranch gift shop. We also built play lasers out of the old wooden and plastic tool kits I'd bought for you long ago.

While being with you always brightens my day, that night us getting together was particularly nice. Jane had just spent the previous week with me, and I dropped her off at the airport that morning so she could head home. It was a bittersweet morning, but at least I had you to look forward to later in the day. Thanks for being such a wonderful son!