July 7, 2026- Today, Hana’s Daddy turned 38. The first best thing I did in my life was to sire the second American child ever born on Jeju-do, South Korea. Aram only lived in Jeju for 3 1/2 years, but Korea was in his blood. When he returned there, in the U.S. Navy, in 2017, the die was cast. He met Yunhee and married her, after a two-year courtship. Hana came along six years after their wedding.

When we sang “Happy Birthday” to him, this morning, Hana’s face lit up. She knew it was a joyous occasion. I told her that she will come to know exactly what a birthday is, in several more months.

Our day was back to routine: We went on our walk to Hoblitzelle and she saw her slightly older friend running and playing on the grass, as we walked past. She will want to do that very soon. Right now, she can sit for a few minutes, then lets herself down. The pressure on her spine must still be strong.Standing and scooting will need to wait until at least the 9-month mark.

Her lunch went better today. She got to wield a small spoon, and felt each food item, thus getting used to the texture. She was more avid an eater after that. She also was able to mix the items together, which appealed to her as well.

HANA’S NOTE- Mommy and Papa sang “Happy Birthday” to Daddy. I remembered that they talked about his birthday on Sunday, but they still sang to him today. He brought back something called pizza, and a frozen thing called sherbet, from work today. I couldn’t eat either one. I’m still too little, Mommy says. That’s okay; Mommy leaves a lot of good food for me and Papa helps feed me, every lunchtime. I like putting my hands in the food and mixing stuff around.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1959 The second half of Grade 3 saw the introduction of short division and simple fractions. I started reading the daily newspaper for more than the baseball scores and comics. I read both the Daily Evening Item, from nearby Lynn and the Boston Traveler, which joined with the Globe, later in the year. That’s when I started learning a lot more things about the country and the world, from the Globe. During the summer, Miss Nugent asked my mother if I could take part in a research project that she was doing for her Master’s Degree. Mom was delighted, and so I took part in a reading program that Miss Nugent was reviewing, She left Felton School afterward and got married. I have always hoped she has had a good life.

In Grade 4, the teacher was Mrs. Kimball, a hard taskmaster. She believed in corporal punishment. I never got the stick, but I know I tried her patience at times. She is the reason that I know how to solve word problems and do long division. We followed her specific instructions on both operations, to the letter, or else.