Jefry!!!!
Oh my gosh you have no idea how long I've waited to hear from you. You have been on my mind every single day for a long time. I'll try and tell you some stories in order...
So the first time I met you you were maybe three weeks old. I will find the picture. Your parents brought you to the Boise airport to pick me up. I had a boot on my ankle because I had just sprained it running. I ran for thirty years and now my knees hurt so I do tai-chi and ballet.
I noticed you're an athlete J! You are so tall and lean and handsome! Wow. I've been enjoying some pictures of you playing basketball and loving that milkshake.
I stayed several days and it was hot in Boise. It was early August then since you were born July 13th! So I sat on the couch and held you a whole bunch. You were a very expressive and happy baby. Your eyes followed everyone around the room.
Your uncle Jake was living with your parents then. So he and I played guitar and we all played cards, the four of us. I remember I kept insisting on holding you ;)
Later you came to visit in Portland a few times. One of those times you were hmmm ... right about 2 years old. I was living in a beautiful basement room with a fireplace. There was a back yard and patio where you played and where we made a jack-o-lantern. You visited there a couple of times. Once you helped me peel garlic. Every time I peel garlic now I think of you.
Another time you came to visit I lived in a super cool attic room. I'll find pictures and that will help you remember too.
Then one day your daddy told me you were moving to Portland! I was so excited! You lived in apartments right across from Rose City golf course on Tillamook street. Do you remember going to that park? It was super big and tall trees. There was a ramp and trails set up for riding dirt bikes. So you were about three years old and riding that little bike like a maniac.
Your parents were going to school full time. For their first term - three months - I would pick them up and drive them home every day. So I got to see you a lot. I lived in ANOTHER awesome basement room where for quite a long time you had a tent set up. There was a sliding door that went outside onto a patio and a gigantic yard and big gardens and lots of stairs and big trees to hide out in.
While there you made up a game for us called chomping. This was a game where we tramped around the yard - you were always the leader and I followed you - and at some point you would indicate that we should do some chomping. Basically what that meant was -- well I should back up. I had given you this plastic tool set and we used the pliers to chomp the plants. It didn't hurt them. It was just something that fascinated you!
This house was just a block or two from PCC Sylvania campus. You can look that up and maybe the pictures will remind you. I drove a white Corolla and had your booster seat in the back. The whole backseat was full of the stuff you collected - literally dozens and dozens of sticks and rocks and all sorts of stuff. You really loved nature and being outside and so do I. We hung out a LOT together.
So you had your tent and a flashlight and a laptop in it and a bunch of sleeping bags and blankets and pillows. Do you remember how much we watched the sweetest cartoon? I can't remember the name of it right now but we would watch it before you went to sleep.
Then your parents got that darling little house in Sellwood. Lots of times I would "babysit" you while they went out. It was on one of those nights we did the treasure hunt. I had filled a mason jar with all sorts of treasure, just packed it full. Then I dug a hole in the garden. Then when your parents left we went outside and lo and behold you found buried treasure! You were flabbergasted. Cell phones didn't have video yet so I don't have any. But it would have been awesome for you to see it.
That's the night we went for a long long walk. It was raining but not too bad. And cleaned the storm drains. It's magic in Portland at night when you take a long walk in the rain and look up at the street lights. Magic I'm telling you.
Today is the best valentine's day I've ever had. I've always loved you and been so fond of you and your amazing creativity, the joy in your heart and the light in your eyes. I will write some more stories later. Thank you for writing me back.
I'm living in Portland again. I traveled for eight years across the country and back and up and down. It was a wonderful experience but I am really glad to be home. I'll be settling down here and in a couple of months will have a new art studio.
Looking forward to more conversations. I love you so much J.
xo
Nani.
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