Karen, You know, it's interesting. I've shared Jason's story with a lot of people including my hubby and boys. My youngest, Nathan, wants to become a police officer when he gets older. But, Nathan sure has a long way to go. He always wants justice done but unfortunately at the age of 12 his "not said" motto is shoot first and ask questions later. .(sometimes I think he is from Texas) I know it takes time to get to where you need to be in order to "serve and protect". Nathan is maturing. I think he may have a bit more respect for what "serve and protect" means when his Sensai tonight used him as an example for their first "take down". You learn that you as a human can be all powerful or you realize that you absolutely have no power. So, as we live our lives we must grow in the areas that are put before us. It seems as Jason has accepted where he is and is using it to help many many others. Whether its transporting patients to and from doctors appointments, making a PSA for swimming pool safety, speaking to other PO's to encourage and inspire them to continue doign what they already do, or just being a darned good son, husband and father--well, that's where it starts. The contents of ones heart and soul really make the difference. Lord willing let us all make a difference in the lives of those around us. Love, Jules

That is darling! You should watch the fascinating HBO documentary called Hear and Now, about a couple in the sixties, deaf all their lives, who get cochlear implants and can hear for the first time. Adjusting to sound at age 65 is very different from the baby in the video. Try to see this if you can. I think you can rent it from Netflix if HBO isn't re-running it. Here is a link that might be useful: Hear and Now

I keep a reading journal and it has a place to rate your reads on a scale of 1-10. So, I'll list the books I read this year according to how I rated them. (I know this message is way too long, but hey--I hardly ever get a chance to post, horrible lurker that I am, so a once-a-year overly long posting isn't too horrible, right?) 10-Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey Sentimental 10 rating--remember reading it as a child and it held up. Good fun. 10-Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell What a mind-blowing book with so many layers and connections. LOVED IT! 10-Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Such a beautiful and contemplative book that examines aging, new life, regrets, families, grudges, grace and God. Particularly loved how the main character finds beauty in sunlight catching a sprinkler's spray or birds roosting on a phone wire (two things that would have been impossible to see in the 1800s). 10-Gonzalez and Daughter Trucking Company: A Road Novel with Literary License by Maria Amparo Escandon This is the "One City, One Book" pick for 2009 in our town. It is such a page-turner! The main character is in a women's prison in Mexico for a crime that remains a mystery for most of the book. She starts a reading group for the inmates, only she doesn't actually read the text, rather tells her story. 10-I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith This book has been mentioned time and again on this forum and I finally got around to reading it this year--THANK YOU to whoever recommended it. I loved it so much! 10-There is Room for You by Charlotte Bacon Such beautiful descriptions of India, both in the 40s and the 90s. Loved the two intertwining narratives of mother and daughter, both outsiders in India but at two different times. A very lush book. 10-The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys I'm sure everyone in the world had read this but me. Written in the 1960s, it imagines the story of Mrs. Rochester (Mr. Rochester's crazy wife that he kept locked in the attic in Jane Eyre.) It was hard to read and I gave it a 10 not because I loved it, but because it did perfectly what it meant to do. It said so much about patriarchy, post-colonialism, feminism, and madness in ways I'd never thought of. I need to re-read. 10-The Woman I Kept to Myself by Julia Alvarez This book of poems was so great that I am going to buy the book. There's one poem in the particular about how she can tell who her husband is talking to on the phone by the tone of his voice. Another one talks about how she can't bear to throw out her headbands, even though she has short hair now, because they are such a symbol of her girlhood. You have to read these poems out loud so that you can hear the sound of them. 9-Five Skies by Ron Carlson Loved this book! Three men out on the plains building stuff and eating really good food. I have no idea why I related so strongly to them! It was downgraded to a 9 because of the...

..so to round up, if I'm allowed to do so-one can already see what parenthood looks like) Whatever a mother (or parents) will do-some won't like it or would do it differently. Sometimes as a society, sometimes as a community, and sometimes, in her own family. (and latter is very often..saying it as a loving daughter who's just back from visiting her Mom)) So dear Beagles, you know that you make your decisions in a way that seems right to you, under circmustances that are best known to you, with knowledge and considerations available to you in the moment, and with love, and hope, and faith-because that's what we basically have with us when we make this big decision to give a life to somebody. Who is born into a certain family, certain times, certain place, you name it. You chose for him-but plenty of things were chosen for you too. You have a limited amount of control, and you do with it the best you can. "Perfect" doesn't exist anyway and one shouldn't strive for it imo. Good enough is great though because it is full of life, real life-and it is achievable. So you pick up a book that makes sense for you, so to say( to me was Dr. Spock-and I'm fully aware many others hated him, but I found him incredibly calming. Maybe Ukranian trabslation did its magic? lol)and try to worry less.(obviously "a book" can be a theory, a bunch of ideas, a gut feeling, an example you were impressed with, and many other things. Said "a book" to make it shorter) I imagine it's very overwhelming to hear so many opinions at once at the time when one is so vulnerable and has to decide fast. It's overwhelming to me-and I dodn't have to make any decision)) Again, I'm barbaric so I did the procedure, and healing went well. If I was not barbaric maybe I wouldn't even think of doing the procedure, and it'd be just as fine, and then I wouldn't be able to describe my anecdotal evidence of how the healing went, so that's my very limited and modest input. I did it, and in our case, healing went well. I'm surrounded both by people who were circumsized and these who were not (starting with my own immediate family)-and that's not what makes a major difference, neither to me, nor, as far as I can judge, (or from what I could ask) to them. Not in daily life, not to their characters, not to nothing the sharp human eye like mine may discern)) Whatever you do/don't in this case..the chance it will be fine either way is huge. Hugs, April