Block Island

Dear Dad,

Last weekend, G3 went on his first camping trip with the Boy Scouts. Oh how I wish you were here because you would have been really excited to hear him talk about it. You always enjoyed his enthusiasm about scouting.

This trip wasn’t just a plain old camping experience. They went to Block Island with their bicycles. G3 took the bicycle you bought him — the very last birthday present you ever gave him. He rides that bike and he thinks of you — always.

The boys bunked two to a tent. G3 made plans prior to departing to share a tent with his best Scout friend. But the day before they were due to leave his friend’s father emailed me to say his son wouldn’t be able to make it. He had been exposed to someone with COVID, and he was waiting on a negative test result which could take up to three days. Your grandson went from super fueled I-can’t-wait-to-get-there to extremely mopey. It was devastating to watch the joy drain out of him. 

The morning of the trip his stomach was killing him. Nerves devoured him because he didn’t really know anyone else going. He didn’t know how he could have fun without a friend to bunk with. Then, an hour before we left, his friend’s father texted to say the negative test result just came in and they were scrambling to pack. I told G3. He clasped his hands together, fell to his knees, looked toward the sky, and said,  “Thank you Grandpa.” (You still get all the credit. But maybe you did have a hand in speed of that test result because you always hated to see your grandson disappointed or sad.) The mood shift was instantaneous. Excitement once again claimed him. 

G3 was excited about the ferry ride there. He said it was getting dark and the sky had a haunting look about it. Plus the water was rough and since he was standing out front he got splashed in the face.

On Saturday, the boys biked around the island — somewhere in the ballpark of 20 miles. G3 said it was beautiful — more scenic than the Badlands and Glacier National Park combined.  “It was also very gay,” he informed us, telling us he never saw so many gay flags, not even in P-Town. Then he added, “P-town, Fire Island, and Block Island. I guess gay people really like areas that are remote.”

He loved being away from me and Kati. How great it was for him to do something without us. We asked him what his favorite part of the trip was and he answered, “The ice cream.” Apparently, one ice cream place makes delicious Oreo coffee milkshakes. One of the fathers who went on the trip told me G3 was very independent and did well being on his own. Another father said that G3 was well behaved and that his knowledge of literature and his interest in Classic Rock were impressive. I guess you’d be proud.

This morning, G3 FaceTimed Nona to tell her all about his adventure. I couldn’t sit at the table. All I could think about was you and how G3 always enjoyed his breakfast chats with you before school. And you always loved to hear all about what was going on in G3’s life. Your absence this morning was especially heavy. I had to keep busy to prevent myself from crying. This was such a big moment in G3’s life and you missed it.

While G3 was away, Kati and I drove up to Massachusetts to have lunch with Kati’s cousin and her cousin’s daughter whom we haven’t seen in nearly ten years. Our lunch stretched out over five hours — I guess we had a lot to catch-up on. And the conversation was pleasant. 

On Sunday, I went biking around our neighborhood and picked up a few Adventure Lab caches. I can never get G3 to take a long bike ride with me. Every time I wanted to get the near-by bike trail cache, he never had any interest. Of course, when he asked me what I did this weekend and I told him, he was mad at me. “I told you not to have any fun without me.” Hmmmmm…no, that’s not exactly how this works.

Tonight, we were driving home from his Boy Scout meeting and he talked the entire way home. He never talks that much, but he was really excited about all he had learned. The boys in his patrol have almost all earned the rank of Scout. They are now beginning to work on requirements for Tenderfoot. Today, they learned First Aid and G3 couldn’t wait to share all he head learned about the Heimlich maneuver, burns, and sprains. You would have loved listening to him. His chatter would have made you smile.

I miss you!