Dear Joseph,
I was teaching kayaking yesterday and, when I turned on my phone, there were lots of pictures from your mom. It looks like you two had a great day. I especially liked the one of you and the banjo player. I'm glad that you are finding things to do in your new city. It looks like it is going to be a lot of fun to live there.

Grandma and I look forward to seeing you for your birthday. Remember, you're flying home with us so we can play here in Milwaukee. Don't forget, we plan on setting up a tent or two.

Papa loves you.

Dear Joseph,
I know it is hard to adjust to a new home. After all, you have moved a long distance and have gone from living in a house to living in an apartment. On the other hand, look at the really neat area you are living in now. You and mom and dad have been to the monuments and Smithsonian already.

I enjoyed our drive out and visiting the monuments when I was there. It brought back a lot of memories of the time I lived in D.C.. For now, I hope you find a really good school with nice kids, just like back in Cincinnati. I know you will. When you do, please write or call me about it.

Right now, the most important thing is that you are back together as a family. I know you missed dad a lot, so you can spend lots of time with him now. Just remember:

Papa loves you (too).

Dear Joseph,
Well, we had quite a time last weekend, didn't we? There was lots of driving and all the moving. Finally, you and dad and mom are together in your new home and settling in. It will take a while for you to get used to living in a new place with new people, but eventually it will be wonderful.

Grandma, Bubee and I will be coming for your birthday soon, and I will be anxious to see how you've set up your room. I hope you will tell me how it has been living in a new place and if you've met other children in your building.

Stay well. See you soon.

Papa love you.

Dear Joseph and Adena,
Papa grew up in a time that was very different than now (when ever you read this). I saw our country, USA, grow and flourish and become great. If they are still teaching history (and doing so truthfully), you will learn that this country started as an experiment in freedom and capitalism. The founding fathers, at the risk of their lives, wrote a constitution and broke free of the King of England. And it worked for us. We developed the best of everything, and our people lived good lives. We became the envy of every nation in the world. Those who hated us were either jealous or under governments that I describe below.

We are a democracy, or at least a republic, that elects officials who we can kick out of office if we do not like what they do. There have always been those, however, who do not agree with this way of governing. There are those who feel that everyone should have the same things, no matter how little they might contribute to the country. This means that if you lived in such a country and worked hard to earn a living, the government would take some of what you made and give it to someone who might be lazy and had not earned anything. It is called taxes, a way of redistributing wealth.

These same people feel that the elite (they decide who is elite) knows what is best for us all. They believe that they should run things. In doing so, they collect almost all the earnings and wastefully spend it on programs for the people. We call the people who think this way socialists and communists. Two things you will want to know about them: 1, They feel they know what is best for us and will use any means to get their way, and 2, they will not be subjected to the same programs as the common people. Even now, as I write this, congress does not have the same medical program as the rest of us.

As I write this, a man who refuses to show us his birth certificate (we are not sure where he was born and if he is even allowed to run for the office), has a radical background, has never run anything or produced anything, who as a senator usually voted "present" to avoid taking a stand and who now has surrounded himself with Czars (a communist dictator) who were all had radical and/or suspicious legal backgrounds. More over, as it turns out, he has lied about everything he promised, especially to have open government (as his minions have done everything behind closed doors. They even refused to let the minority part participate. Unheard of). They have already passed budgets that will bankrupt the country. Now, this week, they have passed a bill which none of them could have read (it is thousands of pages long) and are set up to take over the health care system, one of the best that ever existed.

I suspect that when you read this health care will already be rationed. I suspect that you will have lost many of the freedoms we enjoy today, but you will not know it because you have grown up with it. What I want to say is that I am sorry, so very sorry because, you see, this way of governing has never, ever succeeded. It has lead to poverty of the masses, misery, loss of all freedoms and dictatorships.

I write this with great sadness. Today, I have looked into the abyss.

Please remember,

Papa loves you both.

Dear Joseph,

It has been cold here in Milwaukee, but Papa has been out in his kayak a couple of times. Your cousin, Adena, is here with me and grandma; and I wish you were here to. But, I bet it is warmer in Ohio right now.

Here are two pictures for you to look at. One shows how it looks out on the lake in winter. The orange boat is Papa's kayak. The other picture shows our group in the pool where we can practice rolling in warm water.

I miss you.

Papa loves you.

Dear Joe-Joe,

It was great having you here for the holiday, I think we all had a good time. Like your cousin Adena, you are growing so fast that grandma and I are amazed at the changes. You certainly get around just fine and have a growing vocabulary. Now, on to potty training.

Your mom said that you are all thinking of moving up here to Wisconsin. Maybe we all should move, but to someplace else. Something to talk about.

Anyway, I am already looking forward to spring. You will be 3 years old, and I would like to get you into a floating kayak to see how you like it. Meanwhile, get better, and remember...

Papa loves you.

Dear Joseph,Grandma and I were happy to have you visit this weekend. I thought we had a lot of fun at the wedding and playing at the house. We could not believe how you have grown and how much energy you have. In fact, you exhausted us all. I don't know how your mom keeps up with you.

Anyway, I am glad you made it home safely. Did dad tear down the wall?

I l;\ook forward to seeing you for Thanksgiving, but I need to rest up between now and then.

Papa loves you.