Tonight we reached another milestone.
We’ve crossed one more bridge for the first time.
We can look back, but we can’t go back.
We can only hope not to cross it again,
or at least not very often.
When her tower of legos unexpectedly tumbled, and consumed with the fire of extreme frustration, Beth exclaimed, “OH SHIT!!!”
She said it with emphasis.
She said it with gusto.
She…
“Hey Beth, do you want to go outside and feel how cold it is this morning”, daddy asked at 8 a.m. this morning. “Yeah!!”, Beth replied enthusiastically. “O.K., I’ll pick you up and carry you since you don’t have any shoes on.”
They go just out side the door and rush back inside without hesitation.
“Daddy, what temperature is it in here?”…
Today was not a great day.
My temperature has had more significant digits than I would like all day, and I’ve felt miserable. When my discomfort has allowed, I’ve slept. When it hasn’t, I’ve sat around in a daze. Poor Cheryl.
While dazing, I’ve watched two movies on my computer (while Beth was watching Free Willy for the 129th and 130th time since Christmas), and two…
DUNEDIN – Using only the objects available to her: a toilet (the sink was too high to reach) and the brush beside it; Elizabeth Kauffman did her best to clean her parents bathroom early this evening. “I put the brush in the water and I put the water there and there and there and there and there” said Elizabeth, describing the scene to her father. Those on the scene describe the…
These last several years, I had the impression that my grandmother was not a happy person. Perhaps I am not the best person here today to make this assessment, but despite being separated by geography and circumstances, we did speak on the phone occasionally. When we did, she invariably mentioned that most of her loved ones and friends were long gone.
I was listening to National Public Radio the…
Foreword As it turns out, I never mailed this letter. I did not know where you were, and didn’t know where to send it. It seems even your parents have moved on, so here this letter has sat. I have no illusions that you will someday happen upon this letter here, so I’m not exactly sure what my motivation is in placing it here. For that matter, I have no illusions that many people at…
Every so often, the topic of having more children comes up. Sometimes it is a joking reference from an acquaintance. Sometimes it is a prodding from my in laws. Sometimes it is a serious conversation with Cheryl. Other times, it is just me. . .sitting and thinking. . .like right now. On most of these occasions, many of the same tired arguments are raised: “do we want Beth to be an only…
Despite myself, I am optimistic.
My job brings me to court twice a week to work on child support cases. The cases we see are predisposed to be the the worst of the lot. They can be the ones which no other form of persuasion has prompted someone to be a good parent. We are taking the action of last resort, we are going to court. If that were not enough, the atmosphere is charged by the inherently…
Beth started the day, like nearly every other weekday, at 6 am. Although this is not out of the ordinary, getting up any earlier than 8 am is inherently bad. I’m neither looking for, nor do I expect any sympathy from those of the medical persuasion, but I think we all can agree to this in principle.
From there, Beth went to school and suffered through a long day. When she arrived, she…
(Note to those of the medical persuasion: I think puncta is the word I’m looking for, but I’m not sure. If I’m wrong, then it’s the word I’ve made up for the little holes in your eyelids, near your nose, that carry tears away from your eye.)
I relented. I gave in to the suggestion that plugging my puncta would solve my dry eye problems. This despite the failed…