I’m sorry I was out of town this weekend. Things have been nuts since Grandpa told us he has cancer. I got laid off at my job and thankfully, I got a new job really quickly, but now, I have no vacation time. I have no way to go up to Billings and see Grandpa before he gets so bad that he won’t even remember seeing me. The only time I have to make that drive up to Billings is when there are holidays. Your birthday is so close to Independence Day. I chose to see Grandpa this time. I hope you understand.

We’ll celebrate your birthday next weekend. You keep saying that you don’t want any presents and this year I’m going to try to respect your wishes. It’s so hard for me because sometimes it’s hard to say, “I love you” and the easiest thing to do is to give a present.