One

The Magic Number One

What is it about the number one that seems to capture the imagination? Is it that it represents a beginning? It's a small enough number that it's easy to wrap your head around, particularly for the mathematically-challenged, and I, as a proud English major of old, know of where I speak. When I hear the word 'one,' a few things come to mind:

Air Force One - and I mean the real one, not the pretty cool but spectacularly silly Harrison Ford movie. The real one is a boss symbol of America's authority and power.

One Direction - an earworm-inducing scourge on humanity. I don't care about 'what makes you beautiful,' I just need that earworm out of my head. Now. And. Forever. More.

One - working to fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. They are striving to do good things.

But today, when I hear 'one,' I think of this one:

One Today

Our grandson, the first-born of the Awesomes, turned one today and when it's a birthday for someone in the Den, you get called out! As I think about him celebrating his first birthday, I ask, 'How did this happen?' It was, in my mind, just yesterday that I was holding him for the first time when he was just seven short days into the journey we call life. But today, thanks to FaceTime, I watched him run through his house, perform 'So Big,' point out his belly, and holding up one finger to show that he knows he's one today.

He'll be surrounded by people who love him as this little milestone is celebrated, including CAL who made it down for the big day. He'll have fun. He'll not remember a single moment of this. But he'll know this - that he is loved. That's worth all kinds of celebration.

Happy birthday, B! You're doing the number one proud!

Viva Mexico! Tuxtla Gutierrez Mexico that is.

The stunningly patient and mighty fine SML made her way to our mailbox today and found a little something that piqued her interest. That little something? That large white envelope you see. It was addressed to The Boy. It contained his mission call. Due to his golf schedule, the envelope sat unopened until 830PM this evening. Suffice to say, knowing that unopened envelope would tell us where he will be for the next two years, waiting for him to get home was no walk in the park.

Once he got home, it was game on. We made him take a shower to get the golf stank off and after one demand to change out of his creepy kitty t-shirt, it was time for the reveal. Thanks to the glory of the Interwebs and the fact that the great Satan of the Web, AT&T, decided to be stable, we were able to connect three IPhones and a couple of iPads to get far away family in on the fun. With everyone connected, he opened the envelope and read:

Mexico Tuxtla Gutierrez

He will leave September 17th and will be on the Lord's Errand for the next two years. We are so excited for him. We are relieved to know where he will be serving. We are thrilled to see how happy he is. We are counting our many blessings.

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day, wherein our nation pauses to remember those who have given their lives in order to protect our nation and the way of life that is America. For all of its faults, this is an amazing country and I am most grateful to those who have given their lives to protect it and us.

I'm reposting a previous Memorial Day post. Please read on:

Today is the last Monday in May, when the United States observes Memorial Day. While the day has become a time to remember those who have died, millions across the country will pause to remember the meaning of the day and will honor those who gave their lives for the freedom of this nation.

It is a solemn day.  So many gave their lives defending the freedom of this nation. They may have questioned the reasons why they were sent to war (and I don't just mean our most recent one, so calm down, Fox Newsites), but they went. They died defending our system of beliefs. They deserve our utmost respect and reverence.

I've often wondered how my generation would have reacted had we faced the cataclysmic events that catapulted the U.S. into World War II or had we been teenagers when the Towers fell on 9/11. My gut tells me the reaction would not have been as admirable as that of our counterparts in 1941 and 2001. I'm not proud of that. Perhaps that's why I have a particular obsession with the literature of war. From the Revolutionary War to the current brouhaha in Afghanistan, I have read a slew of books and I have been inspired and humbled by the sacrifices of those who were far less selfish than my generation. I mean what does my generation have to call its own? MTV. Madonna. The coke-addled 80's. We set the bar pretty low, people.

I'd like to share a list of some of the books that have had a profound impact on me as I've considered the actions of those who fought for this country. For your consideration:

• Band of Brothers, Stephen Ambrose - actually anything Ambrose has written is worth reading, but this telling of Easy Company and World War II is amazing.  The HBO mini-series is an incredible companion and should be required viewing in any and all American History courses.
• In the Company of Soldiers, Rick Atkinson - gripping look into the early days of the Iraq War
• The Greatest Generation, Tom Brokaw - the generation I wish my generation could be.  Read this and understand why.
• Behind the Lines, Andrew Carroll - letters from the Revolutionary War to the Iraq War.  Deeply personal.
• War Letters, Andrew Carroll - the first of two books that capture war from the eyes of those that fought.  Stunning.
• One Bullet Away, Nathaniel Fick - inspiring story of the making of an officer in the Iraq War.
• The Heart and The Fist, Eric Greitens - second story of the making of an officer in the Iraq War.  Both are stories of very smart young men who could have been sitting in an office on Wall Street, but instead chose to fight for their country.
• Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand - incredible story of a U.S. Olympian turned soldier turned P.O.W. and his story of survival.  I was so sorry I hadn't heard this story when I was in school.  But I went to public school in Arizona, a state where you'll do more time for knocking over a 7-11 than for killing a child.  I shouldn't be shocked about the quality of my education.
• The Cat from Hue, John Laurence - a reporter's ground-level view of the war in Vietnam.
• Final Salute, Jim Sheeler - this is one of the most moving books I've ever read.  I wrote about it here.  I defy you to read this book without weeping for the lives that were cut short.  The subtitle of the book is 'A Story of Unfinished Lives.'  Is there anything sadder?
• Lost In Shangri-La, Mitchell Zuckoff - while not about a battle field incident, this book is an epic story of survival and ingenuity during World War II.  Further proof why they were the Greatest Generation.

I would also invite you to find this movie on DVD and to watch it. Please watch "Taking Chance" as a part of your Memorial Day remembrance. It is a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made and the honor given to our soldiers.

I am profoundly grateful for the actions and sacrifices of those who gave all for the freedom of this nation.  May we honor their memory on Memorial Day.

The Wisdom of Teeth

The fine, faceless heroes who work at dictionary.com have defined the word wisdom in one of the following ways:

the quality or state of being wise

Traditional thought says that experience gives you wisdom. While there are some cases where it would appear someone was born with great wisdom, it is typically something you work hard to gain. Why is it then that our dental overlords insist on yanking out our wisdom teeth? It turns out, according to the purveyors of all things true on the interwebs, Wikipedia, that wisdom teeth are the source of all manner of problems and that they need to go. On this, I do not speak from experience. As it happens, I only have two wisdom teeth, instead of four, and the two that I have are lazy and have yet to emerge. If one's wisdom is connected to said vestigal third molars, you get why my 'wisdom' may be a tad questionable. However, we experienced yet another extraction bonanza today when The Boy had his four wisdom teeth removed.

Not The Boy, but he's been sporting the ice-filled maxi pad too

In a surprisingly fast procedure (all done in less than an hour, including the IV sedation and hallucinatory wake up), The Boy experienced the rite of passage that is having four teeth wrenched from the jaw. Good times. The stunningly patient and mighty fine (and dental professional) SML took him in and I joined her in the waiting room towards the end of his procedure, primarily so I could pay for it. In a further showing of my lack of wisdom, I forgot about our handy HSA debit card, but I digress. Soon enough we were called back into the recovery room where we found our heavily medicated son sitting up but strapped to a chair, looking pretty trippy. The anesthesia had done an epic number on him. He focused in on me and that's when the fun began. Here are some of the highlights:

• "Why are you here?" was his raspy demand, more than once, upon seeing me
• "There's a bear out there." as he gazed out the window of the office
• "The plants are coming in here." as he raised both arms towards the window to grab the encroaching plants. His nurse giggled and said, "Boy, he's a lightweight."
• "Where's my phone?" was asked multiple times
• Raised his hand to ask questions several times 

He was having a little trouble coming off the anesthesia and the nurse had him stay in the seat for a little while. She asked us if we had an issue changing dressings and I said, most emphatically that I did, but that SML was a dental assistant and the nurse said, 'Why am I showing you this then? You know what you're doing!' Indeed she does. Nice to have a professional at home!

Because he'd been so loopy, we had to use a wheelchair to get him down to the car. I drove him home as SML went to get him his prescribed meds. More fun ensued:

• He once again repeated his ability to mimic singers while medicated. Belinda Carlisle, she of the Go-Go's fame, was singing "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" when we got in the car and he instantly started singing along, pitch perfect and lyrically correct. When the song ended, he blurted out, "Was that Miley Cyrus?" Um, no.
• As we got closer to home, he thrust his hand at the clock and demanded to know why I was ditching work. I explained that I'm an adult and manage my own schedule and that I wasn't ditching. He immediately said, "Well, I'm 18 years old. I'm an adult. You can't tell me I can't ditch school anymore." Huh, really?
• He grabbed my work phone and started to try and use it. Um, no.
• When we got  home, I helped him into the house. After ascending the two, count them two, steps from our garage to our house, he lamented, "My legs weigh seven million billion pounds."
• Down the stairs we went to the basement as that's where he wanted to hang for the day because, and I quote, "That's the only place in our house with a decent TV." This was followed by further lamentation about how stupid it was that we had stairs. Apparently, The Boy has unspoken issues with our stairs.
• I got him settled on the couch and assumed he'd want to watch the European PGA coverage. Boy, was I wrong. "No," he said and muttered something that took me a few times to understand. "Houses. The house selling show." So HGTV it was. I didn't have the heart to tell him the house selling show wasn't on. I figured in his doped-up haze as long as it appeared to be a house, it was all good. Besides, he was having more mood swings than Sybil, so I was out and back to work.

Now, you may be wondering where are the video highlights of these shenanigans? Nope, none. That fad jumped the shark a long time ago in my book. So no need for it here. Now to see what the night brings with the patient. Good times, people, good times.