Status: Semi-active. Update when I can...
Send Me Your Amnesty
Part Three: The In Between Years (Chapter 2)
December 1997 Dear Felicity,
Concert was great. I didn’t do anything to exploit Karsh. We just played a regular set. Congrats on his outing. I know you probably shouldn’t be telling me these things about Karsh too, but I understand why you’re telling me. It seems you have a tight relationship with your brother, you talk about him in your letters, almost as much as you talk about Amnesty. I am comfortable to say that I have outed myself as bisexual. Nothing to be ashamed of. I’m proud of it and I hope Karsh is too. It seems like it since it sounds like he’s got a wonderful committed boyfriend. It takes a lot of balls to come out, especially if you think your family is going to disown you, but you have to be true to yourself. I understand how you can’t seem to tell Karsh about me. I can’t tell my wife either. I can tell her I’m bi, but I can’t tell her I knocked up a young drunk lady, while I was drunk too and together we made a baby that I’m not allowed to have contact with until she’s 18 years old!
While it’s still early, I think it’s OK to withhold the truth for a few more years. Let’s just make a promise to each other that we will tell our families when it’s safe and before Amnesty’s 18th birthday. When I mean safe, I mean a time in our lives when we’re sure that our families aren’t going to leave us or reject us. We have to trust them and they have to trust us. When we are sure that our lives are secure in their hands, then it’s safe to tell them.
On a much lighter note, Joey is two now and Adrienne and I are trying again. We want another child. I told Joey and he likes the idea of being a big brother, he just wanted me to promise him that I will love him the most. I told him I will love each of my children equally. ~Billie Joe
September 1998 Dear Felicity,
I’d like to tell you that we have welcomed in a new baby boy. Joey has a baby brother now. (And Amnesty has another half-brother.) His name is Jakob Danger Armstrong. Cleverly referencing to “Austin Powers.” He was born on September 12, 1998. Joey is excited to be a big brother, but told me was scared that we would forget about him. I told him there’s no way in hell we could forget about him. ~Billie Joe
September 1999 Dear Billie Joe,
Amnesty just had her 5th birthday. She’s the busiest little 5 year-old I’ve ever known. She started Pre-K, Gymnastics, and piano lessons. Amnesty loves school. At her school, there is a water bin in the classroom—everyday Amnesty comes home in a different outfit that I sent her to school in. I have to send a change of clothes every day. She’s even made friends. Marguerite, Michaela, and Ian. Amnesty tells me they play Blue’s Clues at recess. (I remember you telling me Joey likes that show. So does Amnesty. It’s her favorite.)
Amnesty got a brand new bike for her birthday. Karsh has been teaching her how to ride without her training wheels; it’s going well. Amnesty caught on fast and now she’s speeding around with the neighbor kids! She was so surprised when she tore off the sheet revealing her new bike.
I’ve started Amnesty in a tumbling/gymnastics class at the rec center and she more than loves it. Amnesty is so hyper all the time, she needs all the physical activity she can get. Plus, it gets her out of my hair for an hour. I’ve been to a few classes; Michaela is even in her class. They run around on the tumbling mat, they jump on the wall to wall trampoline, and they work on the low balance beam. It’s a workout. Amnesty almost always falls asleep on the way home. I try to keep her up so she’ll sleep longer at night, but she usually takes a good hour nap on the days she has her tumbling class.
We also have taken up piano lessons. It’s a mother daughter group lesson. It’s good for beginners, but I think when she gets older and if she’s still interested I’ll find her an actual piano teacher. ~Felicity
Concert was great. I didn’t do anything to exploit Karsh. We just played a regular set. Congrats on his outing. I know you probably shouldn’t be telling me these things about Karsh too, but I understand why you’re telling me. It seems you have a tight relationship with your brother, you talk about him in your letters, almost as much as you talk about Amnesty. I am comfortable to say that I have outed myself as bisexual. Nothing to be ashamed of. I’m proud of it and I hope Karsh is too. It seems like it since it sounds like he’s got a wonderful committed boyfriend. It takes a lot of balls to come out, especially if you think your family is going to disown you, but you have to be true to yourself. I understand how you can’t seem to tell Karsh about me. I can’t tell my wife either. I can tell her I’m bi, but I can’t tell her I knocked up a young drunk lady, while I was drunk too and together we made a baby that I’m not allowed to have contact with until she’s 18 years old!
While it’s still early, I think it’s OK to withhold the truth for a few more years. Let’s just make a promise to each other that we will tell our families when it’s safe and before Amnesty’s 18th birthday. When I mean safe, I mean a time in our lives when we’re sure that our families aren’t going to leave us or reject us. We have to trust them and they have to trust us. When we are sure that our lives are secure in their hands, then it’s safe to tell them.
On a much lighter note, Joey is two now and Adrienne and I are trying again. We want another child. I told Joey and he likes the idea of being a big brother, he just wanted me to promise him that I will love him the most. I told him I will love each of my children equally. ~Billie Joe
September 1998 Dear Felicity,
I’d like to tell you that we have welcomed in a new baby boy. Joey has a baby brother now. (And Amnesty has another half-brother.) His name is Jakob Danger Armstrong. Cleverly referencing to “Austin Powers.” He was born on September 12, 1998. Joey is excited to be a big brother, but told me was scared that we would forget about him. I told him there’s no way in hell we could forget about him. ~Billie Joe
September 1999 Dear Billie Joe,
Amnesty just had her 5th birthday. She’s the busiest little 5 year-old I’ve ever known. She started Pre-K, Gymnastics, and piano lessons. Amnesty loves school. At her school, there is a water bin in the classroom—everyday Amnesty comes home in a different outfit that I sent her to school in. I have to send a change of clothes every day. She’s even made friends. Marguerite, Michaela, and Ian. Amnesty tells me they play Blue’s Clues at recess. (I remember you telling me Joey likes that show. So does Amnesty. It’s her favorite.)
Amnesty got a brand new bike for her birthday. Karsh has been teaching her how to ride without her training wheels; it’s going well. Amnesty caught on fast and now she’s speeding around with the neighbor kids! She was so surprised when she tore off the sheet revealing her new bike.
I’ve started Amnesty in a tumbling/gymnastics class at the rec center and she more than loves it. Amnesty is so hyper all the time, she needs all the physical activity she can get. Plus, it gets her out of my hair for an hour. I’ve been to a few classes; Michaela is even in her class. They run around on the tumbling mat, they jump on the wall to wall trampoline, and they work on the low balance beam. It’s a workout. Amnesty almost always falls asleep on the way home. I try to keep her up so she’ll sleep longer at night, but she usually takes a good hour nap on the days she has her tumbling class.
We also have taken up piano lessons. It’s a mother daughter group lesson. It’s good for beginners, but I think when she gets older and if she’s still interested I’ll find her an actual piano teacher. ~Felicity
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This might be the last chapter for a while. I just moved into my dorm at my University and school will be starting soon. I need to get into the school schedule before I stay up late writing.