My dad’s birthday was this week, July 24th. I have been thinking of him so often lately, wanting to get my thoughts and memories down on paper, to share them, leave a record, something. First, I’ve been thinking of the connections we make as we go through life. Some good, some bad, some unmemorable as time passes. As we get older, we have an opportunity, hopefully, to learn and grow and reconcile some things. Each decade brings a different awareness and a different way of .