Thursday, June 27, 2002

Dear Kelly,

I hope you are reading this on Friday (which is tomorrow, but for you it is today.) If this is Friday, then it is a GREAT day because we will be coming to pick you up! Are you ready to come home? Remember that we have a white van now, so don’t look for a gray van.

Do not worry about anything changing while you were gone. I mostly just went to work, and we did not change anything. Sometimes kids get nervous that things will be different when they come home. Do you remember me telling you the story about when I came home from Notre Dame for Christmas Vacation, and they had changed dogs but did not tell me? That’s when Gramalie and Grandad got Sheba instead of Sam. They were both Bull Mastifs (big dogs) so I did not realize they had switched.

Sheba did not know who I was, and she just barked and barked at me and was very mad because she thought I was a stranger. I could not figure it out, so I tried to get closer to her and pet her. (Although I thought I was trying to pet ‘him’ — Sam.) She just got madder and barked louder.

Then I heard everyone in my family laughing from inside the house and your Aunt Carol said, ‘That’s not Sam, that’s a different dog!’

I jumped out of the fenced back yard and slammed shut the gate as fast as I could. I was mad, because what if Sheba had tried to attack me? (It turns out Sheba was a whimp just like Charlie.)

Well, we have not switched dogs without telling you, since I do not think that would be funny. Nor have we switched anything else.

We did paint the bricks on the house. They are

sort of a medium to dark green. So you now will

live in a green house. (See photo.)

Can’t wait to see you! Hope you are still having

lots of fun!

Love,

Dad

P.S.

Just kidding about the green house. We really painted it pink.

P.S.S.

Kidding about the pink house, too!