Good Morning,
The last several months, I have found it increasingly difficult to write my letters. And while enduring the little pangs of guilt for not doing so and also reminiscent that if I don’t do so, time will pass me by and the things I should have commented on will be forgotten and lost along the way.
The older I get it seems, the more I contemplate these autumn years and what lies ahead. I see the frailties of my neighbors, who for the most part, have lapsed me by a decade and I wonder if that will be me in the not-so-distant future. Ten years may seem like a long time to some, but I now have to accept that we have been in Arizona for ten years and it doesn’t seem that long looking back.
I have seen grandchildren strive and grow while another continues to be lost in a world intolerant of the dropout. New grandchildren arrive on the scene and a greater appreciation of what it takes these days to be a parent with all of the modern ways of living in a high tech world. In retrospect, I am happy to have been-there and done-that already. No desire to start again. We want kids now, we will borrow them for an hour or two.
I am constantly amazed at how fast the young kids pick up on technology. It seems so natural for them and I suppose it is that way when you grow up with something and have never known otherwise. Sophie is at-home with the iPhone when she uses it to practice her words. Laser focused and soaking up the info like a sponge. Jack likes everything that has lights and buttons. It is easy to say, “well we didn’t have that stuff when I was a kid and we got along just fine.” That may be true for then, but this is now and now is how things are done. I have had to learn the new ways, just like Sophie & Jack will have to do as they get older and newer technologies come along.
There are still times when I miss the halcyon days of a simpler time. I think that is pretty normal. The world turned a little slower back then without email, the 
Internet, 24-hour news stations. I didn’t know or care for that matter, what was going on in Iran, Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan. My biggest concern was if Karen Anderson would smile at me or if I could complete the requirements for my Lion Badge.
Sure we had to practice “Duck & Cover” which I now understand should have been “Duck, Cover and kiss your ass goodbye, but we were innocent back then and actually believed the things our government told us. Nothing ever stays the same.
As the days become more precious, I will focus more of what really matters. Relationships with the ones you love. Everything else is secondary.
Love, Dad