as i grew older the handwritten letters , videos and holovideos would give me far more information about him and glimpses into his life , but during my early childhood they gave me only the feeling that grandpa adam was the nice man whose holographic ghost i would sit in the lap of while he wished me a happy birthday , and whose genes ( whatever those were ) had made my life possible , and that this gave us a connection that was very special in some peculiar way .