Lev's stories from sixth grade: Justificator

Justificator
SS-49 UK only Prototype

The Justificator is a
little gravitational
stabilizer that
is like a little
gyro except
using polar
magnetism and
it can
make you
impossible to
trip if it is
in your shoes
or in your
dog's collar
to make it
land right
side up or
in other
words on
your feet
and it can
make you
do a backflip.

Lev's stories from sixth grade: The Candy Bar Trilogy

Sorting through Lev's writings, there were some really interesting, funny snippets of Lev from his sixth grade journal.
I will type some of them into the blog, to save them and to share his humor. They are written sloppily, in pencil, so they don't scan well. I'll try to get the originals up, but I think typing them would be best.
There is so little I can do with my emotions, so maybe this will help.

Here is one of his stories, I'm not sure if it's true, but the details are amusing. I definitely think there is some stretching of the truth to make a good tale since the facts of this first one don't add up. We were living in Costa Rica, without much access to Snickers, so it must be a tall tale, but here goes.

2 Pounds

Once when I was 7, I hid 2 pounds of snickers in my lego trunk and, by the way, that is 208 snickers which I hid. But this was a lego trunk and it was huge so I shoved them in the legos. Then 23 days after Halloween I ate them one by one, plunging my hands into the trunk, shoving through the legos, and pulling them out until I got a headache from too much chocolate. So, I ate until I choked for 4 seconds, but by then I was done. I think I choked on caramel but fell asleep from too much sugar at 3:45pm and slept for three hours. Then I felt like Barfing. THE END

Another similar story, so he must have hidden some chocolates in the lego trunk. We still have the lego trunk, and I did find a couple wrappers in it last year.

Me and My Friend

Once when I was 8 me and my friend were playing with legos when I got out 62 Snickers and 28 milky ways. Now there is something you should know about Milky Ways - they are like heaven but on earth. Just eating one makes my stomach feel fluttery and then I feel all light-headed like I could fly or levitate. So, we ate Snickers but I mainly pigged out voraciously on the Milky Ways and if someone had given me a Milky Way I would jump off a cliff for it. So, we ate until there were wrappers floating in a sea of trash but some wrappers may still be found in the Lego box.
THE END

Last story in the candy bar trilogy:

Blood and Guts Bar

Once upon a time there was a young fairy named Will who invited a human into fairy land and then the human started a candy bar factory.

(That's it. I don't know if it's the end, or he ran out of time or steam.)

Rebecca

sloth

We visited a sloth sanctuary on the Atlantic coast in Costa Rica.

Lev planted this one, too, at the Cloud Forest School/CEC

we went bicycle camping on Lopez island

karate

Lev was into karate for a few years.

bananas

In banana plants, with a cat that ran away in a few months

special place

This is his special place, where he reforested, wrote poetry, and took care of the land. Thanks to Bryan, his teacher, who started the project.

trees

Lev planted this tree when he was in third grade at the CEC/CFS.

visiting the house where Lev was born

snow family photo

another family photo

visiting New York every summer

9th birthday

Lev celebrated with Eduardo and Trevor. We were one of the few houses with a bathtub and they played in it for hours.
Note on the photo that Lev has a scar across his face.
On the hill up to school, he took a short cut and was diving under a barbed wire fence. He didn't realize that there was a lower strand of barbed wire, and he dove right into it, luckily missing his eye, but we hurried the rest of the way with blood dripping down his face. He was very proud of the scar.

one day old

shortly after moving to Issaquah

proof

this photo is proof that Lev really did come home one day, having traded his bike for a horse!

scary airplane

We took this airplane between two little islands off the western coast of Puerto Rico. It was just us on the flight, and mid-flight, the captain took out the manual to read it. I took this photo, wondering if it would be all that was found of us after sure disaster. Then, he explained that he had never flown this new model before, but that he located the landing gear, and all was well. He was not worried, as he explained he had plenty of gas to circle if he need to figure it out. This may be when Jaal developed his fear of small planes.

our very neat house at the Lawton's

living at the Lawton's, our first year in Monteverde

scorpions, mice, coatis, chinches, monkeys and us

Lev and Calynn in 6th grade with Mrs. McCloud

in the forest in Puerto Rico, the boys together on a vine swing

Jaal's best photo

Jaal has become quite a photographer, and on our trip to Canada he took some beautiful photos. In this one, on July 7th, Jaal had asked Lev to go to the edge of the dock, and look at the water. Shortly after the photo, Lev and Tony went for a swim as Jaal and I walked Snowy around the lake.

Lev and his mom at a wedding

This is Tony's favorite photo of Lev and Rebecca, from last May.

6th birthday

Lev's birthday, a few weeks after moving to Costa Rica.

swimming

Although the school was terrible in Puerto Rico, we loved going to the beach every day. Lev had had tubes in his ears the year before, so he needed special ear plugs while swimming. He and Jaal, and Tony and I had many happy hours in the water, snorkeling, playing in the waves, the boys trying to boogie board or surf.

Lev's least favorite picture

Lev hated this picture. He hated that I took it, he hated that he was crying, he hated that learning to ride a bike was hard. He always got mad when he saw it, and for years we had to hide it away. Then, one day we found a picture of Jaal falling while learning to ride a bike. It wasn't a great picture, like this one, but since that moment Lev was fine with this photo.
He is five, in Puerto Rico is this photo.

Memorial Day

For the last three or four years, on Memorial Day weekend, we went camping at Baker Lake, Panorama point campground, right on the water, with Craig, Sarah, and Grady. Building your own raft is always fun. This last May, the weather was cold and wet, and Grady and Lev kayaked to a little island and spent most of their days on their own, on their island, having a great time together.

Sauk Mountain

We hiked to the top of Sauk Mountain, with beautiful wildflower views on the way up. They were proud of themselves when we arrived at the top pretty quickly, and they kept climbing higher to the top of the rocks to get a good view.

5th grade baseball

Lev played baseball in 5th grade in Seattle. It was the first time he played team sports, as we had been living abroad for his other school years. He was not particularly talented, as he was just learning the sport, but he had a great time.

Valentine's Day

February 14, 2010

Tony and I usually celebrate our anniversary on Valentine's Day, since we were together so many years before we were married. It will be our 21st Valentine's Day together, which is more than half of my life.

It reminds me of our last Valentine's Day. Jaal was busy, going out with friends. Lev had been dating Melissa since the previous May, so I asked him what he was doing with her for Valentine's Day. It was his first, and only, real girlfriend, so he was new to the whole thing. I told him that he should get her some chocolates or a little gift and that they should probably get together and do something.

I took him to the store to get something, and he chose a little heart shaped box of chocolates, and a very large bear. He was very proud of himself for his choice. Valentine's Day was on a Sunday. We went on a "double date," of sorts. We picked up Melissa, with the big bear in the back seat with them, and we dropped them off at the movies, while Tony and I went out to dinner. After the movie, we picked them up and drove Melissa home. She seemed happy with her bear, and they both had a nice evening.

They had broken up a couple months before Lev died (yes, it's hard to write that word), but they were still friends and had many friends in common. Melissa's dad told us how glad he was that Lev was her first boyfriend, as he had respected her, encouraged her to set high goals to herself, and had helped her to set the bar high for future relationships. I hope that is true.

I like to think that with his actions he made a difference in the lives of others, even if it was something small, like being nice to someone on Valentine's Day.

Lev was either completely wonderful, or terribly annoying, and I miss them both.

Lev's first day

Lev was born at home, in Aptos, California at around three in the morning. Our midwife was Roxanne, and she looked just like Bonnie Rait. Our good friend Bronwyn was helping out, as she was in training to be a doula. It was a textbook birth. Roxanne got there around midnight.

Grandpa Ted was visiting, and I had started in labor late afternoon. We decided it would be best for Jaal to stay at the hotel a couple miles away with Ted, but at three in the morning Jaal woke up demanding juice. Ted didn't know what to do, the vending machine had no juice, and Ted was rather curious what was going on back at the house, So, he took Jaal back for some juice. As they pulled in, Lev was being born. By the time they got up the stairs to our house, I had stopped screaming, and Lev was born. They came in the bedroom, before Lev was even swaddled. Ted asked if it was a boy or girl, and we hadn't even checked yet. I was so sure it was a girl, it didn't occur to us to check. He was definitely a boy!

Jaal got to cut the umbilical cord, and never showed any jealousy toward Lev. It wasn't until Lev started to crawl and knock over his legos that he began to realize that little brothers can be annoying.

In this photo Lev is about twenty minutes old. He was perfect.

He was a great baby, and would entertain himself with just about anything. He didn't start to get a little difficult until age four, which was a precursor to how he would be as a teenager when once again kids realize that their parents are not all powerful.

In December of 2008 we visited Aptos, and Lev was really proud of the house in which he was born, and proud of being born in California, for some reason.

bedtime lullabys

Tony used to play guitar and sing lullabies to the kids. We sang around the campfire when camping as they got older. Below is one of Lev's favorite. 

Hobo's Lullaby  by Goebel Reeves  Go to sleep you weary hobo Let the towns drift slowly by Can't you hear the steel rail humming That's a hobo's lullaby  Do not think about tomorrow Let tomorrow come and go Tonight you're in a nice warm boxcar Safe from all the wind and snow  I know the police cause you trouble They cause trouble everywhere But when you die and go to heaven You won't find no policemen there  I know your clothes are torn and ragged And your hair is turning grey Lift your head and smile at trouble You'll find happiness some day  So go to sleep you weary hobo Let the towns drift slowly by Don't you feel the steel rail humming That's a hobo's lullaby  ©1961,1962 (Renewed) Fall River Music, Inc. (BMI) All Rights Reserved. 

bow and arrows

Lev loved fighting with sit is, making bows and arrows, and blow darts.
Often the homemade bows and arrows wouldn't work that well, but the fun was on the creation of it, figuring out what rainforest wood was best for the bow.
Lev likes going out and chopping things with a machete, too. Last trip to Costa Rica Lev brought back a machete, and when our weed whacker broke, he tried to trim our grass and blackberries with his machete. It wasn't sharp enough and he was so happy when Jaal used his Dremel to sharpen it for him.
One nice memory was when Jaal and Jordan discovered how to make blow darts in Monteverde. They would fill a jar with beans to hold them while they dried, cut up metal hangers for the darts, and glue paper cones on the end so that when blown through a PVC pipe they would shoot out with great accuracy. Lev didn't show much interest until he saw the final product. All of a sudden, his brother was cool, a genius, the maker of a fabulous tool. I was afraid that someone would lose an eye, as they would fly over twenty meters accurately. They enjoyed many hours making them, and peppering our banana plants with sharp darts, which would pierce the plants quite easily. It was great to see them playing so nicely together, like they would when we went to the beach.

Last year, Jaal and Mark began making the darts again, but now Lev had moved on to a store bough bow and arrow, and last spring, I finally let him buy an airsoft gun. He found it wonderful and fascinating at first, but then, like most things, he lost interest and moved on to something new.

from Uncle Ben

****
Lev's Visit to Maryland in April 2010

Though Lev and I never lived nearby each other, we saw each other at
least once a year, sometimes more. Most recently he had spent (almost)
a week at my house (in Rockville Maryland) in April 2010 -- 3 months
before his death. It was a great visit, with some fascinating
conversations as well as lots of video games, frisbee, hiking,
rock-climbing and so forth.

All 3 of my kids really enjoyed the visit, but Lev and my daughter
Scheherazade (now 13) have long been [damn, I guess I should say
"were"...] particularly close and always enjoy [enjoyed...] each
others company especially.  Although when  my sons and I wrestled with
Lev, Scheherazade refused to participate.  She loved Lev but didn't
trust him not to squash her !!!

On a visit to the Cacoctin Mountains, Lev was particularly impressed
with my rock-clambering capability -- and I semi-tried (but failed) to
convince him to do some dangerous things, like a leap over a deep 3
foot crevasse... and a difficult climb down another crevasse, which
involved wedging your body between the two sides and lowering yourself
bit by bit for 15 feet or so.  But he seemed to vicariously enjoy my
reckless risking of my own life, though he was more conservative with
his own safety!!!

I was struck by how fast he was growing up all of a sudden. Lev had
always been a smart and inquisitive kid, but on this visit he was more
interested to carry out lengthy intellectual chats -- about DNA, time
travel, AI and so forth. He also showed a deep knowledge of history
and politics, with an insight into Western history complementing my
own sons' recent study of Japanese and Mongolian history. We even
discussed the possibility of immortality via technological means, and
he was all in favor.

Lev was a devout heavy metal head, and particularly a devotee of
Metallica.  I like metal OK, but on a long car drive I tried to
convert him to jazz fusion (played on the car stereo) ... and I failed
-- though he admitted that some of it sounded a bit like music.

One thing that strikes me looking back on that visit are the
unfinished conversations.  As we chatted about AI and pharmacological
immortality and eugenics and unified physics and all sort of stuff,
lots and lots of conversational threads were left dangling, which I
figured would get picked up next time we saw each other.   I'm a big
fan of ongoing multi-year conversations, and seeing how peoples' views
on issues change as they learn and evolve.

New Years Eve, Costa Rica 2009

This photo was taken on New Year's Eve in Costa Rica in 2009. My band was playing at a bar down there. They are pretty lax about the drinking age, and Lev was allowed to hang out and watch the music. We decided he could have beer since it was a special night, and he was super-excited about that. But after downing a can of Pilsen, he disappointedly decided it was "gross". We all had a great time that night.

snow

Lev, like most kids, loved the snow. Tons of good memories, from sledding, snow shoeing, cross country skiing, snowboarding, and just playing around. I'm glad we haven't had any real snow this year.

Hats - from Grandpa Ted

Last weekend I went to a bar mitzvah for the son of a friend. At the party afterward, all the young people wore hats that were distributed as party favors. I was struck with the memory of Lev and how he looked in the hats he loved to wear. He was just the right size to wear his dad's hats, and also liked to wear a dark suit or sports coat on occasion, making him look older. The hats he wore weren't party favors or baseball caps, at least not the ones I remembered. They were traditional men's dress hats. He was very expressive, and I could see him with a career or hobby as a stand-up comedian. Then he would change to athletic garb and look like a boy again.

In this picture, we were out to dinner at a fancy restaurant and Lev is wearing a jacket he got for Halloween the year before. He enjoyed dressing up, and that night at dinner he was practicing moving his eyebrows independently up and down. You can tell in the photo that one is up and the other is down. It looked quite impressive. Jaal can wiggle his ears, like Ted, but Lev is the only one who had such eyebrow control.

Playing the stocks

Lev had saved a little money, and somehow got it in his head that he wanted to play the stock market. He had heard everything was down and figured it had to go back up. He thought it would be more fun if we did it together, so we each put $500 in on the same stocks. He chose what he knew: Dell, Sony, and Microsoft. To me these were three ex-successful tech stocks, but he was so confident, and it seemed like he had done his homework. Soon after investing they all started to go up. It was eerie. I realized that he actually had the business sense that the rest of the extended family sadly lacked, it was neat to see. He was not happy with how Dell was doing and quickly dumped it at a break even. He patiently waited while Sony and Microsoft climbed. One day he texted me from school: sell! sell! Guess he had a hunch that it was time. I sold them off and we each made $250, for a 50% gain. Not too shabby! I was deeply impressed. He was very happy, but decided that stocks were not for him. He did not like rooting for these faceless corporations. The funny thing was that he was not surprised or elated about his gains, but expected this outcome the whole time. Maybe he could have been a rich man, he had that sense...and he certainly had charisma :-)

July 7, 2010

Lev would often get mad at me, but I knew it was just a passing moment. This photo was taken in his last two days. We were on a tram up to the top of a mountain in Jasper. He was getting a little motion sickness and I said it would be better if he stood up and looked out the window. He argued that it would not, and was mad that I belittled his nausea and said he would be just fine.

When we got to the top, there was snow, and it was gorgeous. Lev had a little pedometer clipped on his pants that he found totally fascinating. He lost it sliding around in the snow. He was bummed and Tony searched with him, much to Jaal's annoyance, looking all over, and they found it. He was happy once again.

boffing

For the last few years, Lev loved going boffing on Saturdays in Bellingham, from noon to four. He would often meet Grady there and then stay over at his house. When they were younger we used stay and watch them, but as they got older we would go hiking with Jaal while Lev boffed. It started with clan wars, and then games like capture the flag. There were young kids, but mostly college aged students. It was great exercise, and was the closest Lev could get to his fantasies of living in medieval times. He often created his own weapons, but sometimes Jaal would make them, or Grady, or Lev would commission one from an older player. Last May Grady and Lev seemed less interested in boffing and frustrated with some of the rules and politics. They took it very seriously and had a little clan of their own that would meet there. Perhaps they were outgrowing it, but he certainly enjoyed for a few years.

back when we were full of glee

Lev in third and fourth grade

I remember dearly when a person I didn't recognize stood up at the memorial and shared how glad he was to find out that he was in one of Lev's classes. He knew that with Lev there it would be entertaining and fun. Over the years, Lev had teachers that really understood and appreciated Lev's character, and those that just found him annoying.

In fourth grade, I had hired a teacher that was not working out. She had limited patience and sometimes yelled at the kids. It made my job more complex as director since Lev was in her class. Lev, of course, would egg her on and make things worse, just to be Lev and amuse himself, impress his friends. Then, a few weeks into the year she realized how much Lev loved to read. He behaved himself when he was reading. She let him read almost all day. I figured he would learn a lot from reading and I could catch him up with math later. She was happy to have him not causing trouble. Lev was happy to read. I remember one day he finished a chapter book in a day. I wasn't thrilled with the situation, but it was a good compromise. Luckily his class was attached to the library. It was an unstaffed room with lots of shelves, tons of donated paperbacks, and some tables and chairs.

One day, at lunch time his teacher came into the office and asked if Lev was home sick. I said, no, he came to school with me, and was a little concerned about his whereabouts, but Monteverde wasn't a place to get concerned about kids wandering around. Still, we asked his friends, and went out searching. Eduardo said that he saw Lev in the library before school. So, there he was. On some cushions in the corner of the library. I asked him what he was doing, and he replied, "reading". He was completely unaware that school had started over three hours ago, regardless of the fact that you could hear his class through a door in the library. He had gotten half way through a book. I think it was the Redwall series.
Mid-year, his teacher left, and we hired a teacher that worked out very well. Lev was no longer able to read all day, but he enjoyed regular school again.

He didn't really appreciate the CEC when he was there, the tree climbing at recess, time in the forest, proyects, integrared curriculum, etc. until after returning to the States.

He remained really proud of his part of the forest that he reforested. We would go back and visit each time we returned to Monteverde the three square meters that he was responsible for in third grade, when Bryan was his teacher. In partners, they planted trees, and then maintained the land with little machetes, letting the trees grow larger than the king grass. They would graph their plot and the growth of the plants. They would sit and write poetry, becoming one with the land. It was about a fifteen minute walk from the classroom, and Lev seemed to remember where it was exactly. Last time we were there, two of his trees has grown taller than he was. He was so proud.

Boxing

Lev really wanted to be a boxer. We often went outside to spar. We wore gloves, but no other protection. I always assumed one of us would get hurt, but we never did. I think we were just careful not to hit too hard. We both really enjoyed the sport, it was a lot of exercise and very fun. It was one of my favorite bonding activities with him.

In the spring of 2010 he decided that he wanted to get more serious and join a boxing gym. Naturally we were hesitant about it, but we agreed to do it, and he started looking into it. Right before summer break we happened to be in Big 5, and it occurred to me that we should buy better gear. We chose new gloves, helmets, and some focus pads. He did not ask or beg for these things; it was my pleasure to buy them for him. He loved the focus pads, whacking away at them with glee. I also liked them, since the target was no longer my head. Rebecca even held the pads for him one time when I was gone, which warmed my heart when I heard it, because she hates boxing, but loved her son enough to do this anyway. He decided that with all of the new gear, maybe he did not need to join a gym right away, he could just spar with us until he got better. Obviously we were pleased to hear this.

Hair Straightening and Washington DC

Today at school I went to The Landing. While we were talking one of the adult leaders asked us all to share a funny story about a the person who had passed away. For what ever reason I thought about the Washington DC trip. The first thing I thought of was how Lev and I made a deal about hair, which led me to think of a few stories.

In 8th grade I HATED wearing my hair down which is why it was always pulled back in a pony. Well out of no where Lev looked at me and said "you should wear your hair down tomorrow" I asked him why and he just smiled and said that I would look pretty. Looking for a quick comeback I immediately replied "only if you let me straighten your hair." So we came to the agreement that if I wore my hair down for however many days I would get to straighten his hair. It was so funny because I knew he hated it. He kept repeating that he didn't understand why girls straightened their hair because it was painful and to time consuming.

During the time that I had to wear my hair down, we were on the bus and it was late, or at least it was very dark out. Well my friend Samantha stole my back pack just to snoop through it, I had no idea it was even gone until she gave it back. So i just took it and sat back like normal. I guess at some point she had thrown my hair brush at Lev, because all of a sudden I felt someone brushing my hair. I was kind of weirded out, because brushing someones hair is a tad bit on the creepy side. Even more so when he refused to let me move until he had finished. We jokingly called Lev a creeper for the rest of the trip after that. Weirdly enough he seemed almost proud of that title.

Another memorable moment during the trip was during one of the times Rebecca was so kind as to let the group I was in assimilate with her own, since my groups leader Mr. Morrel had back issues and couldn't keep up. I remember standing with Annie, Amanda, Lev and David and we were talking. Rebecca was standing a tiny bit in front of us. I don't remember the conversation but I do remember Lev said something then Annie raised her eyebrows, looked at Amanda and I, than in a voice just loud enough for Rebecca to overhear said " Lev! Don't Call Me A Slut!" Rebecca pulled Lev off to the side for a minute, and when he came back he glared at us because he was angry about his mom lecturing him about respecting women.

Lice

On the airplane I watched a movie that had a scene in it where the little boy had lice. Lev had lice twice, always exceptionally.

The first time was when he was in first grade. We decided to shave his hair really short, which he was excited about. Tony took him out on the porch, on the Lawton's house in Monteverde, and with his beard trimmer proceeded to shave his head. I went out to make sure Tony was ready and he had already started. But, while I was planning on shaving it to a quarter inch, Tony thought it would be best to get rid of all the hair. He had shaved a streak down the middle of his head, almost completely bald. Lev was psyched, and then we had to shave the rest that closely, too. the next day in school. he announced to his class that he shaved his head because he had lice. He felt sorry for the lice that died, and was excited about having a whole ecosystem in his head. Jean, his teacher, was proud of him for being so open about it and glad give an examine for the clase of someone not embarrassed about having lice. Even the principal's son gets lice!

The winter break before last we went to California, and Lev and I bought new hats at the Berkley hat store. He bought a great monkey sock hat, and he loved that hat. A few days later, we noticed he had the largest lice I had ever seen. He was very patient and thankful when I got rid of all the lice.

annoyed

In the last few years Lev was often annoyed at me for taking pictures.
Although he would get annoyed at other little things, too.
He was the happiest person I had known, and could experience such deep glee - but also the most annoyed, angry about nothing. Full of attitude, Lev never went unnoticed.

pets

We had a hamster in Monteverde. Jaal and Lev enjoyed playing with it, and watching it roll around the house in a hamster ball.
One day the hamster ball rolled down the stairs and opened. The hamster was free, but never found again.

We got our cat Linga and our dog Snowy soon after.
Lev liked to sleep with Snowy until he started to get a slight dog allergy.

Jaal and lev

I love this photo. It is from a hiking trip near Deception Pass. Note that Lev is wearing one glove.

Snow

More About Hats

Man, did Lev love hats! I remember driving in the car with him, and we saw a grimy baseball cap in the middle of the road. He insisted we stop to grab it. It was about some "mixed martial arts" group and he was very excited about it. After washing it he wore it all the time, it was one of his favorites.

A few years ago we took a car trip down to California. There is a great hat store in Berkeley. Lev found what is possibly the coolest hat of all time, a "monkey" cap; you can see it in the picture above. I am pretty sure he wore it the whole time we were traveling. Unfortunately later we discovered he had lice, and I think it was the darn hat that gave it to him!

When we were last in Costa Rica, Lev somehow decided he needed a straw hat. We walked all around the market looking for one. He tried a bunch on, as he wanted to find the perfect one. He found just what he wanted and was mighty pleased about it. He wore it the rest of the trip, and he was cool and comfortable on all those hot sunny days.

all powerful

This is Lev at age five. This is one of my favorite photos of Lev.

We spent a year in Puerto Rico when he was five. We lived on the beach, as you can see in the background. After making it through the yard filled with fire ants, you got to a wonderful snorkeling beach. We swam every day, and Lev and Jaal loved it. The schools were awful, but life was good.
I love this photo because it is a mask that we made together, and you can see that he just dropped his clothes on the ground and was running around in his underwear. Also, he is making a stance to show that he is all powerful in his outfit.
He had high self confidence, and wanted super powers. I think in his mind he often had super powers, an impressive imagination.

hat

Lev got this hat on the Washington DC trip in eighth grade. Of course, he was the only one to buy a hat, and to wear it.
He had a great time, made new friends, and constantly impressed his social studies teacher, who was relieved to hear that someone was listening in class.

the costume box

dressed up

Halloween

Lev loved to dress up. As a little kid, we had a bag of outfits he could wear, and we also made funny things together throughout the year. As he grew older, he still liked to put on funny stuff, cutting up old clothes, using cardboard and duck tape to make a funny arm cover, etc.
He liked to think of himself as powerful, invincible, somehow greater than a normal human.

Most Halloweens we spent with John, Jeana, Lucas, and Roz. We met in birthing class with Jaal, and we started doing Halloween together when they were two or three. Our neighborhood wasn't good for trick-or-treating so we would go to West Seattle and walk around their neighborhood. We would have dinner together and then go out walking. Everyone enjoyed it.

Two years ago Lev bought a metal knight's helmet. He loved medieval stuff. He wore it to Halloween and we padded the inside, but the darn thing was so heavy he couldn't wear it all night. That was the year that Tony brought his ukelele and we sang to the houses. We were quite a crew.

One year, when we were in Costa Rica, we were both renting a beach house in Playa Hermosa during a week off, and Jeana and I bought some candies and had the kids dress up and come to the different rooms in the house to get a treat.

As the kids got older, Halloween together had to stop. Below is a picture from our last time.
Lev wore a funny wig and painted his face red, with a Disturbed shirt. I'm not sure what he was. I remember listening to a lot of Disturbed that year. Lev would like to play the same songs over and over again, setting it to loop. One day, Jaal figured he had to do something, so he looked for another band that he thought he could introduce him to, and that's when he discovered Metallica. The next year was filled with Metallica. They even got to go to a show. Now, whenever I hear heavy metal I think of Lev. We used to listen every day on the way to school, but now my radio is silent.

Challenge Day

Challenge Day was a educational program promoting tolerance at the high school. Lev wrote this card to Rebecca.

Wrestling

Lev and I used to wrestle all the time. It was one of the coolest bonding things we did together. We used to go at it full force, it was quite a workout! I would get rug burns.

I used to wrestle in high school. Even though I was terrible and have forgotten most of the moves, I still knew enough to show him stuff and give him a good fight. When he was younger I used to have to really hold back, because I was bigger and stronger. But in this past year, he had a major growth spurt, and it was getting to almost be an even match. I usually won....but it was way closer :-)

Lev wrestled in middle school. He really liked it and tried hard, but he never got to the level he wanted to. He found that disappointing. I convinced him that the workout was as important as winning, and he embraced that idea. I enjoyed watching him in the matches, once cheering so loudly as to embarrass Jaal and make the coach smile.

Lev used to love pro wrestling. I remember him watching one match and yelling out loud at the top of his lungs, cheering his hero on. He was so into it! He did not care whether it was fixed or not, he just thought it was cool. He had plans on one point to be a pro wrestler. Rey Mysterio was an inspiration, being 5' 6" but using innovative moves to conquer his opponents.