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<p>Today is Dad’s birthday. If COVID hadn’t killed him, he would have been 75. It’s hard to believe that this is the fourth summer we’ve had to spend without him. Today is one of those days where the missing doesn’t seem to get any easier—especially since G3 has had so many accomplishments this week that [&hellip;]</p>

<p>There is no rest, no downtime between seasons. This morning we woke up early so that G3 could compete one more time before he takes the rest of the summer off. I think it’s important to take a break, to give your body time to maybe not rest but do something different. And of course [&hellip;]</p>

<p>A year and a half ago, we would not pay for G3 to compete in combat sparring. He wasn’t good. If he scored a few points in one match it was a lot but never enough to win. He was always eliminated in the first round—often within the first thirty seconds. When we switched schools, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>This morning we work up early so that we could watch two of our instructors test. One was testing for his fourth degree belt. Another was midterming—a step on her way to earning her fifth degree belt. They both did very well. While I was in the Convention Center bathroom this morning washing my hands—it [&hellip;]</p>

<p>II woke up at 4:30 this morning so that I could go hiking before the heat got too extreme. Still, it was 88 degrees when I got into the car. I nudged G3 before I left to see if he wanted to come with me, but he was tired and opted to sleep. A wise [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Airports remind me of Dad. In my life, I have flown more alone than with him, but still being here makes me miss him. Maybe it’s because until last summer, two of the last times I had flown had been with him when he and Mom took G3 to Disney. On the drive to the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>For a crowded campground, packed mostly with RVs, it was surprisingly quiet last night. We thought Independence Day partying would have stretched into the late hours but it didn’t. Even the fireworks were done by 10-ish. After breakfast this morning, we broke camp, packed up the car and got on the road to return to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I slept well last night. The generator stayed off which was lovely. G3 stayed up late and woke up early to read. He is now half way through the shining and asking when we can go to the bookstore to pick up another King novel. Today is much less hazy, although the haze has not [&hellip;]</p>

<p>If you are sleeping in an RV and running a generator all night, you are not camping. You are being rude to those of us who wish to get away and experience the great outdoors. Last night, despite the huge crowd, the campground was surprisingly quiet, except for the loud hum of one generator. The [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We were supposed go camping yesterday, but we delayed our trip for a day because of the air quality. Camping in New York next to the Canadian border did not seem like the best idea when the air quality there was worse than at home. This morning the air quality was much improved so we [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dear Dad, Yesterday was the Northeast District Championship for Taekwondo. We were both really nervous. I was hoping to walk away with a medal. With the season G3 had, we expected him to win a title–and he did, just not one we thought likely.&nbsp; On Friday night, G3 and I drove down to Lancaster to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dear Dad, Our lives are in chaos. Kati’s dad is not doing well. As a result, she has been spending nearly every weekend and much of her free time down in Delaware taking care of him. (But that’s her story to tell, not mine, so I will leave it at that.) With Kati gone, there’s [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I woke up early this morning and took a short hike. G3 didn’t want to join me. It seemed as if the rest of the campground was asleep since it was really quiet. The hike was more of a nature walk through the forest, but I still relished the serenity—listening to the birds and watching [&hellip;]</p>

<p>I slept much better last night. No cranky child or dog woke me, but that might be because I didn’t leave my ear plugs in the car. I remembered them before I hunkered down into my sleeping bag. It was also a good deal warmer. After two days of history, today was a nature day. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>It was cold last night, but it was the crying kid and barking dog in the site next to us that kept me up, not the cold. I kept trying to fall back to sleep but then my bladder felt as if it was about to explode so I gave up, slithered out of my [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We’re terrible parents. We like taking advantage of the three day Memorial Day weekend in order to escape town for a bit and go camping. This year, we got a bonus day. When Kati and I found out that we were each getting Friday off due to unused snow days we decided to go extend [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dear Dad, We were supposed to head down to Durham, North Carolina for a tournament this weekend, but at the last minute G3 decided he didn’t want to go. I don’t really know why. He said he was tired of driving long hours this season, but I’m not sure that is the real—or full— reason. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dear Dad, I’m not sure I want to do Taekwondo any more. On Friday night, G3 and I had our midterm. I did well on the Forms and Weapons components of the test, but during sparring I was paired up with a teenage boy. I’m nearly fifty. My body is haunted by old sports injuries [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dear Dad, G3 has been cranky all day. It was our first day in a long time where we didn’t have anything planned. No Taekwondo. No Boy Scouts. Nothing. It wasn’t too cold and even though it was cloudy, it wasn’t raining, so I suggested we go out for a hike or go caching. G3 [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Dear Dad, We left work and school early on Thursday to catch our flight to Dallas so that G3—and I—could compete in Spring Nationals. G3 was super excited about the trip. The night before we left, he came into my study while I was writing and announced, “I have too much of my grandfather’s blood [&hellip;]</p>