“I’m so excited for Groundhog Day!“, Elliot says as he tells me all about the special day tomorrow. He drew this picture in Kindergarten. It’s a groundhog underground. Next to him is a bed. above his head you can see a hole in the ground. I am not sure what the writing says.

Elliot is still very much into the Jersey Devil. We watch videos about him, read books, discuss camping in the Pine Barrens at night — bringing my father’s giant flashlight, Bowie knife, and switchblades to protect ourselves. He wants to go there with my friend Eric, like we did last summer (although we did not camp there).

Jan 27, 2024. Kindergarten. Elliot and Maya Elster going to the cottonwood forest by wagon. Elliot is wearing my childhood coat I would guess from 1975 or 1976. Maya slept over the night before – Elliot’s first sleep-over! Both of them ended up sleeping with me! We all slept together.

Mt. Falcon hike then visting Dolca the horse.

I will see Elliot this afternoon after us being apart for 13 days (December 28, 2023… last year!) Every time I think about picking him up from school today, I feel butterflies in my stomach. The anticipation, excitement, the fear of him immediately asking “how long am staying with you?”

Apprehension.

I try to watch the feelings, the sensations.

We have a game we play sometimes where we draw together and tell a story in real-time. It’s a lot of fun and something I’ve been doing for years with Elliot. Only recently has he started to draw, too.

While buying a jar of horseradish at the supermarket, Elliot asks “daddy, is horseradish from horses?” Two people overhear him and struggle to contain their laughter, like me. Elliot does not like being laughed at — justifiably so.

Elliot is in kindergarten. He has two Hebrew buddies Avi are fifth graders. One is named Max; I don’t know the other’s name.

Whenever Elliot sees one of them, he yells “Hebrew Buddy!” and runs to give him a hug. I saw it today, outside, for the third or fourth time. It is so adorable. He genuinely loves them.

Age 5. While driving to school, a song on Spotify came on called “Heaven” by George & Jonathan. I told Elliot the title, and said I didn’t know the song.

“Change it, Daddy. Heaven is where people go when they died a long long time ago. In the 80s.”

“In the 80s?”, I asked.

“Yeah, in the 80s, a long long time ago. You put coins with people when they died, and they go to heaven”, he said.

He repeated the coins part a couple of times. I’m think he remembers that Egyptians and other cultures used to put coins on peoples eyes in the coffin. And I’ve told him the Greeks buried people with a coin so they could pay Charon, the ferryman, to cross the River Styx.

Elliot said, “You sneaky little chicken nugget!” after finding his last hidden Hanukkah gift.

Laughed and laughed!

Hi Rebekah,

Yesterday, while driving home from school, Elliot was telling me all about Yosef and his dreams. He had a lot to say and was clearly very interested!

So in the evening we watched 1/2 of the animated DreamWorks film “Joseph, King of Dreams”. Throughout the film, Elliot kept saying “I know this part! I know this part!” even though he’s never seen the film before.

All this is to say: thank you for teaching my son the Torah and, more importantly, inspiring him to take enjoy it learning it.

We will watch the rest of the film tonight. Have you seen it?

Thank you,
Eric Jung

Dec 14, 2023. Elliot begged me not to leave, just like the “old days” when I would stay at Pre-K for some time during class. He even latched onto my legs so I could not walk, and would not let go. I said, “I wish I could stay with you all day. I wish I could go to Kindergarten with you every day. I promised I would go to work.” He wished similar things.

It took 15 minutes to leave. I didn’t want to go, and he did not want me to go. I was the only father (as usual), but there were only 3 parents total — 3 volunteers to help the kids move from station to station.

Elliot said in the car ride, “Daddy, what is heaven?”

“Some people believe it’s a place where people go after they die. A place where everyone who died is, and that life is easy and good there”, I replied.

“Do you believe you go heaven when you die?”, he asked.

“I believe I will go back to G-d. I will be the rain, the clouds, the earth, the trees, the leaves, the rainbows… everything everywhere”, I answered poetically.

Later, in the Jui Jitsu parking lot, he says he will go back to G-d, too, but only after he has lived a million years.

Lesson 56. I can’t believe how much Elliot has progressed in reading. He’s fluent with many words and sentences. See this 38 second video!

And he colored the cat red to match the story!

Elliot said, “aye yai yai, I wish Grandpa Marty was alive.” He hasn’t heard me say that exact phrase before! It was so nice to hear.

He’s doing excellent with the reading lessons we are doing together! Tonight he finished #56 of 100. He is reading fluently with many words; see the video! I continue to be very, very impressed. He is picks things up very fast.

Last week. Elliot age 5. Daddy age 53.

Elliot and I were in bed. He asked me what he will see when he is buried underground after he dies. He asked me what it is like when you are dead. He’s asked me these things again, since then.

He asked me how I will be buried. When I told him that I want to be buried the Jewish way, he said he wants that, too. Then he asked if we could be buried together. He wants to “lay keppe” on my chest. He wants our legs to be entangled — just like they were in that moment in bed.

Of course I told him yes yes yes. And I would love that.

It was a very sweet conversation that I cherished. It can be interpreted morbidly, but I choose to interpret it as sincere love and affection for each other.

We are playing in the Cottonwood Forest. It’s so lovely. Elliot pointed out the reflection of the trees and the sky in the water. We listened to the water over the rocks and sticks.

Elliot said, “This is what it’s like to be Jewish.”

We threw rocks in the ice and made a game to see who could create the most bubbles under the ice. We picked up other ice and sticks and threw it on the ice. We jumped over the creek several times.

We sat on a branch and, after a time, it broke while we were sitting on it. That made both of us laugh hysterically. We recounted it later that evening and the next day.

We watched and listened to the stream and searched for any kind of life (found a cool bug and saw a lonely bird). We played outside without screens like it’s 1975, when I was 5 like Elliot is now. I had so much fun even though it was a little cold. That added to the adventure of it. We were alone… together. We really bonded.

I explained changed your perspective, looking back and forth between the water and the reflection of the tree and sky on the water, is akin to seeing the self and then “not self”. Elliot is not ready for this message yet, I think.