Your Dog

Dear Lucia,

About seven or eight years before you entered my life, I adopted a dog named Bodhi. Now that you are in the family, Bodhi also becomes your dog. Logically, you have become one of Bodhi's people.

Bodhi is a shepherd/rottweiler mix. He's a sweet dog who always wants to be near his people. Bodhi protects us by barking at neighborhood cats, kids playing in the street, and the UPS lady. As is his nature, he likes to herd us by pressing his big body into our knees.

Bodhi also does some bad things. He has been known to sneak onto the leather couch where he likes to scratch the cushions, somehow making them more comfortable. Although your mother forbids it, he brings his bones upstairs, dropping them on the wood floor and leaving marks all over.

One of Bodhi's most endearing qualities is his habit of checking on all of his humans. He'll periodically get up from his bed and walk through rooms, checking to see where each of us has set up shop. Bodhi has even included you on his rounds. We often have to keep him from entering your room as you sleep, but he wants to check on you anyway. You are his; he is yours.

Love,
Dad

Holiday

Dear Lucia,

Our holiday season is nearly over. Tomorrow, your grandfather and his wife will visit for the weekend. And in a little over a week, your mother will return to her teaching duties. This is the culmination of a little longer than a month's worth of celebrating what people call "the holidays."

Not every one's holiday season matches. Some people celebrate religious holidays such as Christmas and Hanukkah. Others celebrate more cultural events such as Kwanzaa or Thanksgiving. Of course, most people celebrate some combination of them all.

We have our own traditions. Our family usually hosts a Thanksgiving celebration we've renamed "Genocide Celebration" where several of our friends visit simply to have one decadent meal, usually featuring a smoked turkey. Around December 25th, we do some sort of secular Christmas celebration with a Polish feast on Christmas Eve. This is your daddy's favorite meal of the year. Then, as we did this year, we attended holiday celebrations for St. Nicolas Day, Hanukkah, and the Winter Solstice.

The other component of this season is lots of exposure to family. So far, your Grandma Barb spent a week with us over Christmas; your Pappy and Grannie arrived as she left; and your Aunt Boog drove in on New Year's Day. And, as mentioned before, your Grandpa Tom and his wife Coleen will wrap up the holiday visits. I'm not totally sure why. That's just the way it is. Whatever the reason, it's good for you to know your extended family and to have good relationships with them.

The other part of the holidays is time off. I don't get that much as I have to work on a different schedule than the schools. Your mom, on the other hand, gets nearly a whole month off at this time of yer, meaning that you will have lots of mommy time over the holiday every year, plus your own time off from school. Either way, it's a much slower time for everyone.

Next year's holiday season is ours to travel. I'll have to tell you more about that later. Since it's taken me weeks to finish this letter, I'll just end it there. Later.

Love,
Dad