H, I think you’re the only kid I’ve ever known to become a better recorder player after the 4th grade.

They MAKE you play the record in the 4th grade.

Everyone endures it.

I endured it.

You survive the tests and the forced concerts, and then you never touch a recorder again.

It’s a rite of passage in the Americanized schooling I have known.

But you – you – took up the saxophone in 5th-grade band.

And it turns out that the saxophone is the instrument most similar to the recorder.

So you often leave your sax at school, sit in your room with the door shut, and incessantly toot on your old recorder.

I don’t even know how many songs you have taught yourself by ear at this point.

It’s pretty amazing to watch, if you want to know the truth.

I love you.

-Dad