Happy

Yeah, I don't know what's happening here. I just know that
TMFKATB is all kinds of happy

On the subject of TMFKATB's weekly letters, I know that I've beaten our sense of joy on Mondays to death. I get it. The horse isn't even worthy of the glue factory, I know, but somehow I keep sharing this sense of excitement with you. All I can say is thank you for putting up with it and for still being interested in reading about his service.

Having served a mission myself, I know that when you are composing those weekly missives, you sometimes wonder if you share everything or if you edit. For instance, thirty years ago as I served, I chose to edit some of the 'gunplay' I witnessed, or had jammed into my forehead, while I was in Miami. Somehow I don't think my mother would have reacted well. In addition to the day-to-day things you experience that you edit out, you sometimes wonder if you include some of the downs that happen. A mission is not all sunshine and roses, but I know I didn't necessarily share all the challenging times in my letters home. Not so with TMFKATB. He's been pretty darn excellent about sharing everything. When he was in Mexico and in the process of blowing out his GI system, we knew in graphic detail just what it was doing. He's been great about sharing the highs and the lows and we're grateful for that.

Today's letter was all about the highs. It was about the most joyful letter we've gotten. He and his companion are hitting on all cylinders and they are seeing the rewards of their hard work. They are seeing the impact of their service and it's brought them enormous joy. For TMFKATB, he's had some experiences over the past few days that have helped him to be a bit more bold without being obnoxious (most twenty year olds are not exactly known for their conversational finesse, so this is a great growing experience). He's seeing miracles, large and small, in people's lives. He summed it all up in this one sentence to me:

Dad, I am so happy right now!

And you wonder why I look forward to Mondays so much. I'll take a line like that and cherish it. You can't wish for more than that for anyone.

Say what you will about life behind the Zion Curtain, but
they sure do know how to make a mean sunset!

Interviews

Just a few weeks ago, CAL started her final semester (that relieved sigh you just heard came from my checking account) of her undergraduate university studies. When she graduates from BYU-I this December, she'll be jumping headlong into the all too real world of work. Her path to full-time work in her chosen career includes months of practicum and internships (to this day, I still confuse the two and the timing of both, so by all that is holy, please do not ask me the difference #fatheroftheyear). She has identified about a slew of hospitals across the country that match her interests and she spent a good part of her summer break filling out myriad applications, packing up recommendation letters, and then waiting and waiting. Welcome to the super fun world of corporate hiring, Princess!

The waiting is starting to end. CAL has heard back from a few hospitals already and all have scheduled her for interviews this upcoming week. Things are now all kinds of real for her.

We've had multiple conversations this week, talking about how and what to prepare for. These are first interviews and are going to be over the phone, given that the hospitals are in two different parts of the country. She got some great ideas on interviews for the job she is seeking from someone who is already in the role (funny how connections through friends pay off!) and she feels pretty good about what's coming up. I've offered to do some mock interviews, but we'll see if she really wants to go though that with Dad.

As she's been preparing and there's been an understandable hint of anxiety around what to expect, I couldn't help but think back to the interviews I've had over the years. At least the days of "If you were a tree, what kind of a tree would you be?" seem to have wained. "Tell me about a time when..." seems to be a staple that we can't excise and lest we forget the opportunity to talk about your three greatest strengths and weaknesses. Yeah, those are gems. One of my best interviews took place years ago in a restaurant in Pasadena, CA. Over lunch, my interviewer (he would shortly become my boss) and I started talking about the industry and it just took off. I got to share some insight and we traded more than a few stories. It never felt like an interview. Isn't that how it should be?

I hope that's how it goes for my CAL. This interview stuff is just a necessary evil. Given the chance to tell her story, she'll shine like no other candidate (I'm the dad - I'm biased and get to say things like that). She's worked so hard these last four years and she's set her sights on an amazing career. I'm eager to see what she does.

It's a process

Pancho Villa

Perhaps it was that additional dose of wisdom that comes with age that I earned yesterday as I entered my 49th year, but it was really good to take in this week's update from TMFKATB. I picked up on how he is maturing, more so than I have in previous letters. I also noticed how his English is deteriorating again. That's a good thing, given that he's behind the Zion Curtain, a place not exactly known for an overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking population.

He talked a bit about some of the challenges the people they are working with are facing. As missionaries get to know people, they become, unwittingly, psychologists, marriage counselors, headhunters, and confessors. It's a lot for teenagers, because by and large these are eighteen and nineteen year olds, to handle. He's seen the highs and lows of people's decisions and actions this week. He talked about how the answers people are looking for don't come easily. He mentioned the process. There's a process to getting answers, particularly to those answers that need to come from God through prayer. There's a process to exercising the necessary faith. It's not a matter of just asking. It takes some work.

He talked about the busy week he'd had. He likes being busy but I don't think he'd mind a moment to think about what's coming next. He's always a bit more at ease when he knows what's coming next. He did have time to enjoy what he called "the best torta in the world." Here it is:

One beaut' of a torta 

It sure looks good, I'll give him that. And as for the 'Pancho Villa' get up in the first picture taken at a church party, no words. I have no words. But then again, he is my son. And there are plenty of pictures of me, dressed foolishly, for many a church party. Sadly, I wasn't a twenty year old in most of them. I was 40...

49

49 - did you know that it is the square root of the number 7? (I actually did know that, I promise.)
49 - did you that it is the atomic number of indium? (I don't even know what those words mean.)
49 - did you know that Arsenal had a 49 game unbeaten run between May 2003 and October 2004 until they lost to Manchester United?

All fascinating, no? But what's important here, and I say this sans ego, is that today is my 49th birthday. Given that the life expectancy for American males born in 1966 is 73.9 years, I am well-past middle age. I'm 2/3rds dead. My life is, at least on paper, 66% done. If I get myself no other gift today, it's that I'm not buying that garbage. It feels like yet another phase of life is just beginning.

Given that today will be spent getting religion, the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML and I really got our celebration on yesterday. We decided to break free of the stern icy fist that Martha Stewart wields over Connecticutistan and we went over to the Hudson Valley in New York. We started our day in White Plains (Calm down, Mittites, it was not to see if Bill and Hillary were in town!) to go to the eastern-most outpost of our favorite pancake joint, the Original Pancake House. It was only appropriate to go there so I could indulge on my favorite, and most appropriately named pancake, the 49er.

The aforementioned 49 year old with the 49er

Let me just go on record and say that this is one, well three if I'm being honest, delicious pancake. After scarfing it down in a state of near nirvana, we began our trek into the Hudson Valley. We took the Taconic State Parkway and I've got to say that as far as parkways go, this one is a beaut. High praise from someone who considers driving a long distance is the 15 minute trip to the grocery/surly service/rotten produce store. We were in the Yukon-asarus which made for some interesting passing moves as we made our way to Poughkeepsie. Yes, Poughkeepsie. On purpose. Why?

For this:

That's looking south on the Hudson River from the Walkway Over The Hudson. Fashioned out of what was once a railway crossing over the Hudson between the glamour that is Poughkeepsie and Highland, New York, this is a 1.3 mile span that affords some just boss views of this amazing river. The weather was nigh unto perfect yesterday so we enjoyed the walk enormously. We wanted to capture the moment and fortunately two girls from Marist College marched right up to us and asked if we needed our picture taken. In about ten seconds, they had taken nearly a dozen pictures of us. Here's one of the better ones:

 While we were on the bridge, I discovered that the freaking Culinary Institute of America was within spitting distance in Hyde Park. It was off to the CIA. We were bummed to learned that it was mostly closed (it was Saturday after all) but being there at Food Nirvana was a borderline religious experience. I can't even speak of it without getting emotional....

Hallowed Ground

We capped the afternoon in Hyde Park at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. This was straight up fascinating! The curators have been meticulous in capturing the life of FDR and in particular, his years as President. The "Four Freedoms" speech, from January 1941, exhibition is particularly moving and worth another post, which will probably come the next time everyone's favorite megalomaniac, Donald Trump, spews something inane. Obviously we won't be waiting long. As one of the docents showed us FDR's fully preserved study, I got the chills thinking about what had been discussed 80 years ago as the President struggled to rescue the nation from economic oblivion. If only those walls could talk...

What a great day and what a great way to enter the last year before the mid-century mark! Spending with the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML...priceless. Time with her is the best gift I could have asked for.