Cretans, Cookies and Compassion

Beauty & the Least

Realizing that Thanksgiving is in the bag for this year...I am a nostalgic kind of guy and need to catch up on my thankful arrears. For my vast audience of 5 I recognize that this may be a somewhat tiresome topic...which is why they put the "next blog" button up in the corner. But it is my reality and thus, my talking point for the day.

If you have known us for any length of time you know that I am barking mad in love with Ann...and my two kids. The fact that we were married for 7 years before taking the baby plunge is ironic. We fully intended to be childless. We enjoyed our first years so much that we felt nothing was missing in life. Hiking, camping, scuba diving, work and God wrapped our life in fullness. Then, in the course of a few months we began to long for something more...she came along in a little package called Elle, (pronounced L for all of you who have corrupted the name). She was going to be my little tomboy until the princess in her showed up. Everything that Cinderella could be, she became, and more. The scent of Shakespeare, cinnamon and Pemberly has saturated my home now for over 17 years.

Elle, Her Mimi and Cookie Class

Thick headedness told me that since I was elated to have two girls in my life (and of course my Mom)...I would have been happy to have as many little red headed, blue eyed girls as we could manage.

Enter Stanley, (pronounced Mac for all of you who don't know his nickname). A screaming, fit-throwing little guy that turned into the finest young man I have ever known. He brought into our lives all the good things of bugs, barf and broken belongings and has been my buddy and calculated ambusher for 14 years.Stanley, His Papa and the Trojans

But those two pals of mine are hinged on the doorway of love that my best friend and kindred spirit has brought to the table. Who'd of thought that I would meet the love of my life in the sands and streets of Egypt? I still don't know what she saw in a ham-fisted cretan full of complexities...but I am damn happy that she did, and then stuck around for the last 30 years. She brought into my life everything an insecure and dangerously impetuous wanderer could ever hope for and more. Sometimes I wonder if it is not just some great experiment in celestial compassion.
So, there you have it on the last day of the Thanksgiving season, I don't deserve a single one of them, but as sure as I know how lucky I am...I also know that God must be crazy to give a guy like me a crew that puts up with my shenanigans and loves to wander by my side on the far side of the world.