Our boy Garrett thought he’d give volleyball a shot this season.  He’s been willing to try all sorts of things on this trip – foods, classes, festivals, books, an instrument…he figured, why not continue the trend?  He’d played a bit of volleyball at home, a few times, in gym class at school.  He’s a moderate player, although we do notice he’s got some unique ways of getting the ball over the net, such as a one-two punch a la Muhammed Ali.  The soccer kick also raised some eyebrows.  Legal, yes.  Effective?  Absolutely.  Graceful?  No.  Not so much.

We are proud of him just for participating.  Going out on any limb is a big deal for Garrett (Do not forget, for example, that the last time he went out on a literal limb he broke his pelvis and missed baseball All-Stars.  He did not like that lesson much.)  He is, as many of you know,  a creature of habit.  He would visit the exact same restaurant every single time we left campus if we’d let him, order the same thing and sit at the same table, just because it’s familiar.  So you can imagine what moving to Korea has been like for him.  It’s a life slightly slant, always marginally awry, something always just a tad to the left.  It’s never comfortable, and least of all for our first born.  Poor kid.  He happened to arrive first, so we expect an enormous amount from him.  He isn’t given a lot of space to complain, demand or otherwise be unhelpful.  He has certainly learned to rise to many occasions.  Going out for volleyball was just one thing he’s ventured to do here, on the other side of the world.

So here’s a shout out to Garrett!  Thanks for being the great kid you are!