Nathan turned 18 yesterday. Most likely my parents will kick him out of the house with a pair of clean underwear and a guitar…. Since we have a lot of relatives that live close by, everybody came to celebrate his Americanized cultural ‘coming to manhood’. I don’t get it: in Israel you become a man at 13, and in America you have to wait all the way to 18!? read more »
“Ugg, what are these bumps on my arm?” I slept solely on my left side, so immediately the assumption walked through my brain that somehow the blood had cluttered together and got stuck. A parallel section on the back of my hand was bright red, appearing rashly that morning. The crimson streak ran up my arm. Of all this, I made no relationship. read more »
My family used to sit down and munch through books. Feeling like an envious outsider, I would watch every one else licking their lips with the delight of language as they gulped down sentences. “How come everybody else can read and I can’t read!?” Even everyone in my second grade class knew how to do it. The mysterious code of reading seemed impossible to crack! I cried my way through the struggle of learning.
My parents did not force me to read. Later I struggled to learn how to decipher the written language from my mother. It was my individual choice to pick up books. I eventually developed an almost unnatural taste for reading, like a glutton among anorexics. read more »
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DAAAAAAD HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
You were three days late of a tax reduction. A man already grown in Marcias womb. Once, a person stopped your to-be mother on the street and told her that she was the biggest pregnant lady he had ever seen. Your Dad bounced you over rocky roads trying to get you to hurry up and hop on out. Marcia took caster oil. You must have been one big baby.
When you suddenly decided to be born, the OBGYN, or the doctor birthing dude, had to rush down the hall cause for some reason you really wanted out. As he walked briskly, one nurse handed him his surgical mask and doctor clothes while another nurse picked up his normal clothes he threw behind him. That baby put things off for a while, but when he decided to emerge, he hurried up and got right to it. My Dad might put things off a while, but when he sets his mind to it he gets things done.
You were one big baby, and you’re one big Dad. I’m glad you spanked me, happy you trained me, and joyful to have such a Dad as you. Thanks for everything. Now, lets see about that chocolate pie…
Wind whistled through my shirt, making it flap against my skin. The exhilaration of the ground coming up at me made my heart beat faster. I panted and took in the air charging at my mouth. Standing on Grandmas swing, my whole body bobbed up and down, making the swing go higher.
Grandmas swing groaned and creaked as the chains above my head crushed against each other. The ropes suffered under my weight. The chains holding the ropes cried. The tree holding the chains felt like it was going to fall. All of them screamed.
Snap!
Grinning, I rushed into the kitchen waving a messy paper. The writing on it could hardly be recognized. Squiggles and blotches covered the whole page. I proudly set it on the table, and called everyone to come and look. My family gathered around. “My first whole page!” I shouted, as if something extremely vital to life was finally accomplished. Laughing, dad and I attempted to figure out what it said, but neither one of us could get much out of the illegible print. I could barely read my own writing! Part of the story included a diamond, a spaceship, and a ‘bad guy’. I remember my first story like I would remember a blurry dream. read more »
We found this video hiding on our computer from last year. We don’t know why it was hiding. There’s nothing to be ashamed about… but we will let the viewer decide.
Also, Nathan would like to add: “I hope you learn a juggling trick from this video!” 