… on the occasion of her 19th birthday:

The days are growing shorter again. For a while the humidity was down, and that gave the atmosphere a false feeling of autumn just around the corner. It’s back-to-school season, and you can smell it in the air. It makes me think of all those mornings you picked up Nathan for school, and I keep expecting you at the door any moment, calling out “Ola!”

You’d probably be at Good Will this week, picking out something stylish that no one else would have recognized until you put it together. There’s a new store on 23rd Street we’ve been meaning to visit. I’ll let you know what we find.

We went to the beach last Sunday and got a little red. I saw a woman gathering debris from the high tide line to decorate her sand castle. She picked up shells and twigs and a dead crab. Her project reminded me of the one we all built together out at Grayton, using June grass and algae to color the surrounding “grounds” and the mermaid’s hair.

We dropped in to spend time with Chuck and Carmen on the night before they left for D.C., sat on the carpet in their empty house while Chuck finished painting his Joy boots. You’d have been there with us, I know, and Chuck would have had no reason to paint, and we’d never even have known how lucky we were. I could have lived all my life having never painted a pair of galoshes.

Even so, Project Joy Boots is going well. We’ve raised about $1,200 towards a scholarship. Your mom and Katie and Jazma have been relentless promoters. I finally finished my pair of time travel boots, though Jazma thinks they’re more like Cyberman shoes. You decide. They’re on display now in the cases at the Amelia Center.

This time last year, we were at your house. Nathan sang “Business Time” and you guys sported matching Spider-Man T-shirts. I rewatched that video again recently, and it made me happy. The future seemed wide open then.

What a difference a year makes.

Well, I know none of this is news to you anyway, and we talk every day. You always were a good listener. We’ll be visiting today and releasing some birthday balloons, so keep an eye out. Try to catch them if they pass close enough.

Love.

—–

View Marisa’s high school graduation video slideshow.

See the musical tribute to Marisa that was part of Gulf Coast Community College’s spring musical.

Watch Marisa and my daughter sing a song to me.

View the video for Project Joy Boots.

Marisa sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to Nathan last summer, with the help of a helium balloon.

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