Dear Georgia P and Lila Jane,

Tonight I leave for the umpteenth trip abroad this year for work. The last for 2016, thank goodness!

The two of you couldn’t have given me a better going-away present.

Yesterday, on the way back from the Houston Museum of Natural Science and lunch at the bagel place, we talked about how I was going away on a trip and I told you how much I was going to miss you.

“I’m going to miss you guys so much,” I said.

“I’m going to miss you, too, daddy!” Georgia, you told me.

“I’m going to miss you, too!” Lila Jane, you chimed in.

“I love you guys,” I answered.

“I love you, too!”

“I love you, too!”

Then I said: “I’m going to be so sad without you.”

“You can’t be sad on your trip, daddy!” Georgia, you confidently counseled me. “You need to be happy on your trip.”

You both could tell that I was tearing up a little in the driver’s seat of our minivan.

If there’s anything I hope that your mother and I can give you, it’s empathy… empathy for each other and everyone in our family, empathy for everyone we meet, every day… empathy for humankind and the world we live in…

Some day I’ll look back on this weekend and think about how you two came with your mother and me on Saturday morning to vote for Hilary Clinton, who will most likely be the first woman president of our country.

And I’ll also remember that this was the weekend that Anthony Bourdain aired his “Parts Unknown” episode devoted to Houston.

In it, he celebrates our city’s rich diversity of peoples and food cultures (check out Alison Cook’s review of the episode, which I believe you can access for a limited time). A number of the places he visits are right up the road from us on Hillcroft and we’ve been to a bunch of them together.

In a week, this tumultuous, roller-coaster ride of an election season will finally come to a close and we will have a new president. As Bourdain implies in his not-too-subtle riff on our nation’s mood, diversity and empathy are two things that can only make the world a brighter place.

The sun is shining today on all of us and I will miss you dearly when I’m gone. Your empathy, your hearts, your sweet sweet smiles are the greatest going-away gift I could ever receive. I love you…

Before I met you I could hardly tie my shoes
Before you came into my life I could never lose the lonely blues
But knowing that you love me there’s no way that I could lose
You are my wife and lover, you are my muse

Happy birthday, Tracie P!

The girls and I already began celebrating this weekend with cards, roses, and chocolates and a steak dinner with one of our favorite red wines on Sunday night (man, those steaks you brought home were good!). But today, October 11, is the day you came into this world.

Every time we celebrate a family holiday, my memories drift back to 2007 (nearly 10 years ago!) when I first discovered your blog and 2008 when we first started writing each other and I first visited you in Texas. Later that year you came to visit me in San Diego for the first time.

It’s so incredible to think about how the winds of fate brought us together and what we have built together since that time.

The girls and I love you so much and we love, love, love our lives together. The joys and fears, the highs and lows, the triumphs and the challenges… Every moment of life with you is a blessing and a miracle.

Here’s a little family video that I put together to celebrate your birthday this year, with photos from the Parzen family fall.

We love you, mommy… I love you, piccina… Happy birthday!

It was actually an Italian friend and colleague of mine who alerted me via Facebook that there had been a shooting yesterday in Houston where Tracie P and I have been living with our girls for more than two years now.

When I received her message on Facebook, my heart sank before I immediately called Tracie to learn that everyone was okay.

The shooting occurred at a shopping mall that our family regularly frequents. Tracie shops often at a craft/hobby store there for her cookie-making supplies and we’ve attended kids birthday parties there as well.

And some of our Levy cousins also live close by.

Thank G-d, everyone is okay.

Yesterday and this morning, I found myself writing to my Italian friends wondering out loud: who could have imagined that our children (ages 4 and 3) would be growing up during “years of lead” (or “years of terrorism”) as our Italian sisters and brothers did during the 1960s, 70s, and early 80s? Bombings, shootings, and kidnapping were common in Italy during those years.

Between the news of the shooting and reports from last night’s presidential debate, I can only think to myself: o tempora, o mores.

Thanks again to everyone who checked in. We really appreciate it.

On a day like today, we can only look within ourselves, our hearts and minds, and reflect on how we can make our country and this world a better place for all.

The Parzen family is praying for all those affected by the wave of violence that continues to plague our nation.

G-d bless the victims of this week’s tragic events and their families and G-d bless America.