Merit Badges

Dear Dad,

Happy Valentines Day! Twenty-two months ago you died. Even when the fourteenth of a month is supposed to be happy, a shadow hangs over it. How is it that nearly two years have passed since you went on that cruise that killed you. Two years ago, you couldn’t wait to get on the plane. It was all you talked about for days. If only we knew that the walls of our existence were about to come crashing down. For so many people, COVID has become a minor inconvenience. It’s become a rebellion against masks and vaccines. But for us, COVID will always be the nightmare that stole you from us. I wish my life had changed so little that the only thing that upset me was a piece of cloth over my face.

This evening was the Court of Honor for Boy Scouts. You would have been proud of G3. He earned his first two merit badges — Astronomy, which he worked on with his Uncle, and Reading because, well, he’s my kid and that’s what we do, we read. It’s incredible how things can be going well, then I’m reminded you aren’t here and I start to cry. When G3 went up for his badges, all I could think about was how excited he’d have been to tell you. If you were here, he’d have gotten in the car and immediately picked up the phone, like he did that day he qualified for the Pinewood Derby World Championship.

Along with his merit badges he achieved the rank of Tenderfoot. And he finally got his Totin’ Chip, which means he can now carry a knife with him on all scouting events. It would have meant so much to you if you could have lived long enough to see G3 doing things with the Boy Scouts. Life isn’t fair. Why is it that some people get so much more than others? 

I miss you!