3 weeks after Parker was born - Email to a friend in Utah

Thanks for your warm letter. I was hoping that e-mail
would put me in touch with you again someday. I've
wondered how things have been going for you, and
everything I've ever heard up until this point has
been second hand. I had also hoped that I would be
able to introduce Lisa to you and Steven at the party
last year. As for Thanksgiving this year I'll be up
in Northern California with Lisa's family, but will be
in Utah during the Christmas holiday. Are you guys
going to be around? Hope so.

Well, this little new man in our home has already
changed so much since he was born! Isn't it
incredible? Now when people look at him they
immediately tell me that he looks like me. The scary
part is that they're right. This little guy IS an
angel. Isn't it amazing how you can just look at a
little kid for so long?

Right now Lisa is burping him on the bed by me. A
minute ago he stretched his little limbs out and then
filled his diaper with a single "WHUMPFFF!" A week
ago I held him on my lamp and asked him to make a
noise if he wanted to have Richard as his middle name.
He was silent. Then I asked him if he wanted to have
Scott as his middle name (no response again). Then I
said "Parker, make a noise if you care!" Not a second
passed before his diaper answered "WHUMPFFFF!" Parker
cares.

In school I'm in my Junior year of dental school. That
gives me 18 months until I'm free! I would have been
out in 6 more months, but I opted for an additional
year in order to get into a new program. In a
nutshell, the program is ideal for people who are
thinking about specializing because there are only 12
people in each class, and the students have more
control over what they learn and how fast they learn
it. Lisa has been working at USC since we came down
here, which made it easier to have 1 more year of
school because it cut my tuition in half.

Oh, and now for a little digression that you may
already know about. Todd Sadowski got into the same
program as me for class of 2003! And even more
amazing is that his wife, Luana, got a job in the same
office as my wife! Those two must be paying their
tithing because everything just fell together
perfectly for them financially when they came down
here. In fact, I had a feeling one night that I
should try to see if he was down here yet, and when I
reached his father up in Utah, he told me that Todd
was on the other line in L.A.. When I called a few
minutes later he told me that he had just driven in
that hour. It was that night that we told Luana that
there was a new opening in her office and they wanted
someone who had a spouse going to school at USC.

Anyway, having Todd as well as two other BYU graduates
in the 2003 class of my program has been really nice
for me. You see, I'm the only white boy in my class
of 12. Everyone else is either Asian or Persian by
birth. Until we had Parker we went out with them and
several other couples almost weekly. Thank goodness I
finally have some guy friends down here!

I really enjoy school, and it's a good thing because
if I get in to Ortho. I will have another 3 years.

We will most likely settle in Syracuse, Utah (just
west of Layton) My family moved there about a year
ago. Lisa and I really like the small town feeling.
If I don't get in to Ortho. right away I'll probably
work for a Dentist in Syracuse for a few years and
apply again.

Well, I've written you an essay. No pressure. I just
have a lot to tell you. Short letters are much better
than no letters you know :) Don't be a stranger now,
hear?

Take care!

Tons of Love,
Rich & Family