Ohana

Rodger, sorry it's been awhile since I last wrote. Life has been busy, what with raising a baby and all. Actually a lot has happened since I last wrote. Your great grandpa, Roger Moe, passed away. My parents decided to sell their house (at this point, it still hasn't sold) and you, your mom, and I moved into our own apartment a couple miles away. I worked a second job for a couple weeks, then quit because I didn't have enough time or energy to spend with you and your mom. There was Thanksgiving, the end of the world that wasn't, Christmas, and the New Year. These are just the highlights.

So, Rodger. Back on track, at least for now.

Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite movies. It's funny and cute, and the title characters are two of the most interesting and original characters I've come across in a Disney movie. They're kinda like Calvin and Hobbes, if Calvin were a girl and if Hobbes was just like Calvin, but an alien.

I haven't watched that movie in three years. Every now and then I see it in our DVD collection and think: I should watch this again. But then I don't, and I don't know if I ever will.

You might know this already, but in case you don't: your mother was pregnant twice before she had you. The first time, she had an ectopic pregnancy and that was a huge ordeal that resulted in a trip to the ER and an emergency surgery. The second time was less dramatic, but still equally difficult -- a miscarriage about six months after the ectopic pregnancy.

With each pregnancy, your mom and I came up with placeholder names for the baby -- something to call the baby until he or she was born. You were Baby Hiccup because you constantly had the hiccups in utero. The pregnancy before you, we called the baby "Baby 'Nilla," our "Ice, Ice Baby." We called the first baby "Lil' Lilo." In retrospect, I think Lilo and Stitch is what originally got me to really consider having a family and being a father. Perhaps subconsciously, that's why I suggested the name Lil' Lilo.

As I mentioned, I haven't watched Lilo and Stitch in three years, since before the first pregnancy. We lost Lil' Lilo a while ago, I know, but it's still hard to think about. And I don't think I can watch the movie and see Lilo as a little girl, running around, playing and having adventures, doing things that I'll never get to watch my Lil' Lilo do.That doesn't mean you shouldn't watch it, though. It's a great movie: lots of fun and some good lessons to take away from it.

The one that sticks with me the most is the idea of "Ohana." Ohana means family, and that family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. We never meant to leave Lil' Lilo or Baby 'Nilla behind. But, I'm sure they will never be forgotten, even if it means our hearts breaking every time we think about them.