Legacy

Dear Jack,

I put you in the car today for eight and a half hours to go back and finish our Houston vacation. Really, I did.

We started at the bay.

You did love the bay a lot, and so did I. But I have to admit that the bay really isn't worth that kind of drive. Nothing in Houston is, really. I mean, lots of things are worth going there and staying for a few days to see, but to do a "there and back" in one day? Not one thing in Houston merits that kind of drive.

But there are some people in Houston who do.

I cannot quite express how much fun you had with Uncle Mark. There are few people you will go with if I'm around. Your father only made it on to that list in the last year. But Uncle Mark got his spot secured today.

Last time you were at the bay, you were all about the water and the waves, and so you missed a key ingredient to the bay experience: mud. You love mud, apparently. And Uncle Mark loves you. So he made you mud balls. And then the waves would come and wash them away. "No! Wave! No! My mud!" And so Uncle Mark would make another mud ball. And then he buried you. And then you got up and sat back down. And then he buried you some more. All morning long, while Aunt Kathi and Sydney and I played together, you played with Uncle Mark.

After Uncle Mark wore you out at the bay, we went back to the house to get cleaned up and meet up with Aunt Dani and Myles for lunch.

From lunch, we went to the north side of town to play with Aunt Jennie Sue and her family and your Grandma and cousins.

Somehow having eight sons makes Aunt Jennie Sue's house particularly little boy friendly and while we were there, you and your cousin David were only two of the four "extra" boys running around and playing hard.

Your Grandma thought it would be fun to give you and your sister some colored bubbles. She said that the commercial advertised that the colored bubbles would not stain. Of course, she was thinking of small drops of bubble solution here and there....

...not of a little boy who might just have to know what green bubble taste like.

Happily, Aunt Jennie Sue ran out to Wal-Mart and soon you and your sister were in the backyard in a kiddie pool, splashing away the bubbles, which were indeed washable.

We're waiting to hear if Uncle Fritz's fish survived the bubble solution being washed off into their pond.

In the evening, after dinner, the grown-ups played cards and you played cars.

It was a lot of time in the car for some very simple memories... mud balls on the bay, green bubbles in a red kiddie pool. But I had an interesting conversation with Uncle Mark and Aunt Dani that really resonated with me about the whole thing.

The conversation was all about legacy. What will we leave behind when we move on from this world? For most people, it's their kids and grandkids. Your Uncle Mark plans on a broader legacy. He wants his to include you and your sister. He doesn't just want two children remembering their dad; he wants a whole family of children remembering their uncle. So he made mud balls with you and taught your sister how to fly a kite.

It was the kite that finished the connection for me, though. Uncle Fritz let me fly a kite once. It was the only time I remember flying a kite. I don't know where we were or who else was there. I just remember Uncle Fritz and the kite. He has eight sons. In so many ways, his legacy is already established. But he is also my uncle and I know for my sister and myself, he left a different kind of legacy. When I looked around in my childhood for an example of a family man, a spiritual head of his household, a man of character and integrity, I found Uncle Fritz. I imagine that many have seen his example and been inspired by it -- he's that kind of man. But I got to be the little girl he took to go fly a kite. I have always loved my uncle. But it was only recently my understanding that he loves me, too, and that I also get to be part of his legacy.

So I drove you and your sister to Houston. Because our trip had been cut short and I wanted to make sure you got the time I had planned for you with my side of the family. Because I'm not sure anyone can plan out who will impact a child; whose legacy that child will be a part of, but I had given your dad's side of the family three days and I wanted to make sure my side of the family had their chance. And I am so glad that so many of them took it.

Love,
Mom