I brought him back

I realized that for the past several days the top post on this site read, “I miss my baby!” and it probably seemed like I kidnapped the baby and had kept him away for much longer than one evening. Even though my then-future mother-in-law may have once suggested that I was a lot like the husband in “Not Without My Daughter!” I just wanted to let everyone know that mother and child have been reunited and that both are readjusting well to life together.


In my defense, I took the baby away for a noble cause. A few years ago, a childhood friend of mine passed away from liver cancer, and his parents have made it their life’s mission to find a cure for this type of cancer. They've organized an annual golf tournament in his honor to raise money for research, and, so far, their efforts have raised over a quarter of a million dollars that have gone directly toward finding a cure.

Joseph enjoyed playing with (and being fed by) all of his cousins on my side of the family while I was at the tournament. Also, I did take a work-related call on the 12th tee, so it wasn’t all fun and games ;) The tournament was extremely well-organized, and I ran into some friends from high school that I hadn’t seen since graduation, which made for an enjoyable day. That evening I spoke with my friend’s mother, and I’m hoping to help with planning next year’s event.

While in La Canada, I was also able to visit with Brigham and Christine—my best friend and his wife—who were in town for a family wedding. My wife and Brigham are the two most intelligent people I know (as demonstrated by, among other things, their choice in spouses), and it was a fantastic experience to visit with Brigham again and catch up on all the great experiences he’s been having. We’re both dads now, and we don’t see each other very often, but our bond still feels as strong as when we were neighbors during childhood or roommates in college. I don’t think I quite appreciate anyone else’s humor as much as I do Brigham’s (Alright, sometimes I think my wife might be kind of funny too), and it was fun to laugh and visit for a couple of hours.

Brigham and Christine deserve a lot of credit for my marriage. Right before Erin and I started dating, she spent a few days with Brigham and Christine's apartment in Budapest. I firmly believe that because of the quality of my friends, Erin figured I had to be much more impressive than I appeared and was consequently able to overlook many of my shortcomings and agree to date and marry me.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Brigham and Christine will move themselves and their cute kids to San Diego after they wrap up grad school back east in a couple of years. By that time, hopefully, Joseph will have learned that hitting girls in the face is not the best way to make a first impression, and their little Lucy will warm up to him.

OK, “hit” is a strong word, but “pat” wouldn’t be accurate either, so let’s just say that when Joseph gets excited, he has a tendency to “pit” people on the face to show how much he likes them.

We’re hoping he grows out of this habit.