In My in box

To: Ryan Flynn


hey bro whats up? your last email made me laugh man, the whole time i was reading it. that was great. i remember some of those times. great times. what did you do for halloween this year? honestly (i dont mean to sound depressing) but it was really just another day here. it was kinda funny because a few places had halloween decorations up. like the chow hall had carved watermelons instead of pumpkins (there arent any out here). i went up to get chow yesterday and i see this red seedy slush on the ground. im wondering to myself what it is when i look up a few feet and see watermelons carved with all kinds of different faces. it was funny, i guess you make do with what you have at hand out here. it was funny to talk to some of the guys i know here. id be like "hey happy halloween" and usually they were just like "what?... OH YEAH ITS HALLOWEEN!"

anyways, how is everything else back home? i heard you and myoko are in love (katie's words, actually i think mom's according to katie, so who knows). well regardless, its good to hear you two are doing (very) well. she seemed like a real nice girl when i met her, i dunno if i spelled her name right though. so what else is new? anything exciting goin on? everything here is pretty normal. i talked to some navy seals the other day, though, and they are really excited about working with a dog. i think in a couple weeks im gonna start doing missions with them so i know that will be crazy and cool. they have a little more freedom here and they dont get so much attention when "things" happen on their missions. i dont know exactly what to expect, but i do know a couple guys that have worked with them in the past and they say things move pretty fast, ill have to learn a lot, quick.

well, thats really all thats happening here. still just going to the gym everyday and trying to eat as much as possible. ive gained some weight out here (i think im at like 175 now whereas when you saw me last i was 165). its hard sometimes but im pretty consistent. i hope you are doing well. let EVERYONE know i said hi and happy late halloween lol. i love you bro.

eric




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Eric,

It's Wednesday morning, October 31st, Halloween, 2007. I was thinking back to some of the fun times we had on different Halloweens. I remember dad taking us around to those neighborhoods by the golf course, Glacier Park, Eastwood Forest, anywhere the houses were spaced within five feet of each other, maximizing the houses that could be hit while minimizing time and effort; a development with few hills was also a valuable find. We were some of the last kids out.One Halloween, I recall us running from house to house in the pouring down rain until 9:30 or so. Our pillow cases were weighing us down, full of candy and sopping wet! Finally, we'd get home, throw open the mouth of our cases, and dump all of our candy out on the living room floor, careful not to mix piles. The hard-earned spoils of that year's Halloween. Then we'd begin the task of organizing each acndy by type; chocolates in one pile, taffy in another, Skittles and Starburst in their own, and lastly, a separate pile for the king size bars if we were lucky enough to score any. We'd methodically organize until mom pulled us away and sending us to our rooms. She thought we were going to bed, but it was always tough to sleep after a night like that.

My candy would undoubtedly be gone first. I would fill my lunch bag with candy for the following few weeks, sneak into my room to take a piece or two, take some more after dinner, and sure enough, two weeks out all of my candy would be gone. If not gone entirely, it was effectively gone as I'd be left faking excitement over my 20 remaining packs of m&m's and 15 "party size" plain Hershey's bars. In contrast, it felt like your stockpile went on forever, some years past your birthday. If I remember right, there were even times when you never finished it, donating your leftovers to the candy bowl in the third drawer down in the kitchen cupboards. This killed me! How you held off for so long, I never knew.

I hope you're doing well, brother. This e-mail is to the many great memories that we've shared. I am thinking about you constantly and miss our conversations. I hope to be hearing from you soon.

With love,

Ryan













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My reply:
Thanks Ryan for sharing this.
Good to know you have great memories of bygone times. I did kinda crack the whip on you guys didn't I.
I remember teaching you boys to cut across the lawns rather than to keep coming down the walkway to the sidewalk to maximize time, energy and distance. Gotta get all the candy you can when the gettin is good. :)
We had some great times trick or treatin, Man it was cold some nights though. But all the frozen ears, wet umbrellas, hot chocolate and tired sore feet were worth the effort and memories. Trick or treating with Nick Halford, and I think once or twice we went with Michael your cousin. Do you remember trick or treating in the old neighborhood before we moved to Maple Valley? Going with your cousins from Ted's and John's family? I remember times when you were real little that you were impatient waiting for Eric cuz he was not as fast as you.
On a larger scale, I hope you and Eric and Katie have fond memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas and fourth o July's!
I sure do. Soon you will be making new memories of these 'holidays.' Perhaps with a family of your own, hopefully we will all be a wonderful part of that too.
We love you both so much.
Thanks for the memories,
Love
Dad