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Though escape is a game we learn as children, secret desires to disappear unnoticed–and to surface into a more agreeable situation–intensify in proportion to stress. In his single-digit years, our son sharpened the secret art of escape virtually nightly. Feigning invisibility, he clambered without fanfare to the back of our station wagon to squeeze into the [...] This week's mail brings a letter from a distraught mother whose only child is painfully separating herself from her family–and a note of encouragement to that mother from an older friend. This poignant exchange holds two important lessons. —– Flipping though the scrapbook pages of our memories just a week ago turned up images of several mothers. Page one opened at Deal Cemetery in Ladelle, Ark. Mary's mother, grandmother and great-grandmother are all buried there. And though never a mother herself, our daughter Jenny occupies a spot as well, awaiting the ultimate arrival of her mother [...] We awoke to falling snow, the first of this winter. Mushy and wet, shapeless globs droop from branches like newly washed clothes tossed over a line. Just right for snowman building. Not many years ago an eager young fellow would roust me out at first light to do just that. But now he's grown up and [...] The hand on my shoulder gently shook away the deep sleep. "Get up," my dad whispered. "I hear it again." For several nights a peculiar sound had awakened him, not by its loudness, for it wasn't. But it belonged elsewhere, to the war perhaps, where sporadic, high-pitched tones reminiscent of Morse code might not have seemed [...] Life has led us through deep waters of painful transition but a few times. The latest (and most difficult thus far) is at flood stage. The birth of our first child initially launched us into the rough seas of change. Her profound retardation, blindness and a host of associated infirmities complicated the journey. But the remarkable [...] The age in which we live is probably more intrusive into family life than any other time. Distractions abound, and the call of worldly success is hard to ignore. But there’s always a cost. Time invested in the pursuit of worldly fame and fortune must be withdrawn from the account of home and family. We [...] From time to time I stumble onto a treasure quite unexpectedly. It happened again just last week as I sought to justify the purchase of some high-tech gadgetry. The addition of computer hardware to create CD's seemed to be a frill, but when the price dropped to $99, I succumbed. Only one problem remained: to win [...] The news jolted me into another world–a world of long-forgotten uncertainty and anxiety. Dormant memories emerged as ghastly specters. The news that two sets of friends have discovered life-threatening health problems with their children rewound my mind 28 years to our daughter Jenny's birth. Suspecting nothing, we hardly raised an eyebrow when the doctor reported "complications" [...] I'm writing this on my 55th birthday. Though I don't feel any different than I did yesterday, 55 is my entrée into a new phase of life. I'm now officially old enough to retire at my place of employment. And as I gaze across this important threshold, my mind is looking back… to another significant [...] |
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Copyright 2012 James McAlister - All Rights Reserved |
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