Holla for Henry

9/5/09
Taking time away means setting dates in place well in advance, which often means having to miss some very important events. This has meant weddings, graduations, parties, and family events. This trip was no different, as roughly 36 hours after we departed St. Louis, my big sister Lynn gave birth to her first child, Henry Joseph Hawkins--NOT Fingerhut, as previously and erroneously reported. The due date was August 30th, which was perfect except that he came a little late. With Michiyo`s sister Masae in the country for a month, not only would she have gotten to see my other sister Katie get married and help us find a house, but she would have been there to meet her new cousin-in-law. Alas, life is never perfect. While there is no telling when Masae will get to meet Henry in person, Michiyo, Hiroki, and I are looking forward to meeting him when we get back, and congratulating Lynn and Rob in person.
Cardinals fan since birth.

If you are keeping score at home, that makes two grandkids for Grandpa Joe and Grandma Julie Fingerhut. My brother Mark and I had a nice long online chat regarding Henry, and the potential future grandchildren to be created by our newlywed sister Katie with her husband Mike. Perhaps this next bit will only be funny to him and me, but this is our exchange:
Mark Fingerhut: In keeping with the H's, Katie's first born shall be named Hoyt
MF: Then they will be the Fingerhut H3
JF: He`ll be a donation collector at St. Frances Cabrini
JF: Plus star in Channel 28 USA made-for-TV action movies
JF: Hoyt Nathaniel Heaney. Has a nice ring to it
JF: I don`t know why Nathaniel. We`ll have to dictate this policy to Katie
MF: Hugh
JF: Hef
MF: Hilario
JF: Horatio
MF: Holla, I think they need to institute this as an acceptable name.
JF: Heathcliff (Slocumb)
JF: just straight H (Waldman)
MF: I have to go.