WHAT THE AUTHOR'S CHILDREN SAY

In response to letters written to each of his sons during their eighteenth year, the Greenbergs received the following: (wording and grammar have not been changed)

Excerpted from a note written by Aaron (on the right in photo) at UC Berkeley: 

"The more time I spend in the world, and the more I learn from other people, the more I learn to appreciate how special our family is. You and Dad created a near perfect world for me. I couldn't ask for anything more in life. No matter what shit I'm dealing with in my own life, I know that something is constant--my home. You and Dad created something for me that is so close to perfection that it may in fact become a burden. In a good way of course. I don't know how I am ever going to live without creating a life for myself, and my kin, that lives up to that which you have given me. I think it is too good. I think that it sets an example that is unattainable in its happiness. I have yet to see a group of people so happy and content, and full of love and joy, and this makes me wonder if it exists anywhere else. If only it did, the world would be a better place." 

In an email from the University of Oregon, son Benjamin (left in photo) writes: 

"Let me start out by saying thank you. Thanks for everything...I mean thank you for being the parents that you are. I know that things haven't always been easy, I've given you guys a fair amount of challenges, but it always amazes me to see how quickly and naturally you can deal with them. I watch my friend's families, and now my dorm-mates families, and realize that ours is not a typical household. Aside from the people always running around in it, there is so much love there it is amazing. There are kids here who genuinely don't like their parents, they don't feel loved, they feel like they have to be something they aren't to get approval; never once in my life have I felt that I needed to be anything but me to be loved. I look at the life I am leading and am amazed. Not at the situation (my new college experience) that I am in, but rather at the way that you guys still play such a role in my life. Mom, I talk about you so much, my friends make fun of me and tell me what a mamas boy I am, but the reality is that just about everything in my life relates back to you, every story I tell starts with the words "one time" and "my mommy". Dad, I hear you everyday. Anytime I speak, it is Richard Greenberg coming out of Benjamin's mouth, its amazing, and it makes me so proud to be your son. My computer is full of MP3's, but not the new rock that I listen to, rather, its full of Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole. Almost every song by those people brings back a memory of some time, whether it be riding to a Feeney game in dad's car listening to straighten up and fly right, or sitting at Nanas listening to Just The Way You Look Tonight. Every one of these memories is embedded in my head, and always will be. Thanks for giving me those memories. Thanks for giving me this life. Thanks for my brothers who I cherish like none other, and my sister who is the center of my universe. I love you guys more than words can say. I can't wait to be home, talk to you soon."