“My love for you is in everything you do….” These words came as a strong message to me from you, Solomon. I received them soon after I heard that you had died in a car crash in Bangkok, January 31, 2012. It feels like you are with me, not somewhere else, both then and now. You had a full-to-the-brim life in your 34 years.  Knowing this has supported me greatly, allowing grief to feel less hurtful. You would be 45 today. I’m celebrating your life right here.

Happy Birthday Solomon

Here is a poem I wrote in the early 1990s

Lines That Bind                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

When Solomon was twelve

he mentioned one night over spaghetti 

that he found out mediocre was a real word.

Someone not in our family had used it.

He always thought his Dad made it up.

Ammon was three

when we lived on the fault line in Olema.

We walked the woodpecker trail

in the National Seashore,

where the sign in the meadow read:

This is where the farmer’s cow 

fell into a crack in the 1906 earthquake.

The only thing left above ground was the tail.

My son looked looked up at me

eyes stretched wide.

“Where do you go when you die, Mom?”

I lived with this question,

felt the bright metal of it

crack and join at high temperature,

made a small book of words and drawings

of butterfly cocoons, apple trees, and 

a Scottish bagpiper lying in a coffin.

            Some day I’ll go to Alaska

            for the thaw.

            I’ll stand by a big frozen river and listen

            as the ice breaks up, rumbling, scraping,

            feel the world let go.  <>  <>  <>

Here are some email clips  Solomon sent us. 

He sent a photo of an eagle further away than this picture, a blurry one he took with his cell phone to his dad with this message: “I think I’m picking up the slack in the bird department while you, Dad are out of the country. Here are some shots of a Bald Eagle that was nested right next to our houseboat in Shasta last week. If you zoom in on the pic you can get a very good look at him. After seeing him in person it’s no wonder we chose this bird as our national mascot…  🙂 ”  

Another email note he sent us when he was interpreting Spanish/English on a snow board trip to CHILE:
“So I gotta be really quick. Gotta go Chillian today with the tour. Am working all this week, riding (snowboard) every day, having a blast. I am just in Santiago for this morning. I had a crazy night last night dj-ing then stayed up most of the night in a club where Pablo Neruda used to read his poetry… Super bueno.  Mom, can you let me know your Burningman plans?
Much Love, your son in Chillyyyyyyy….”
SnowBoarding in Chile

A birthday invitiation 2008:

“Hello Family….I am extending an invite to our wonderful family for a day of boating/birthday celebration as I bring in the 31st year of my time on our little rock. We thought it would be fun to have everyone go out on a Sunday, as Sundays seem to work pretty well for everyone. The boat is located in Tracy about an hour from SF…picnic lunch. Any questions? Hope you all can make it. Much Love, Solomon”

Boating Birthday
Here goes
Yes! YES!!

Your friends are thinking of you today, Solomon and you are with us taking us into snow, waves and always, the best music. We all miss and love you!