As he approaches his first birthday next month, Little James is walking and dancing to music these days. His parents have some pretty cute movies up on their site, which I've linked to from the title of this posting.
Whenever I consider the challenges I face, between jobs, aging, facing pressures and challenges that sometimes feel overwhelming, I think about little babies like James and their incredible drive to learn how to roll over, sit up, crawl, stand up, walk; and then talk, sing, dance; and then read, write, think.
My concerns seem minor by comparison. Then again, I'm at an age where no one's cheering me on anymore. My role is to cheer the children and grandchildren, increasingly from the sidelines, not the center of the court.
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1 comment:
David, only due to the fact that my youngest daughter's co-parent has been in the ICU for the past 2 weeks did I miss this posting on December 13th -- it is Sunday and I am now catching up on your last 4 blog postings. I was astonished to see what you wrote about our mother, Betty Van Patter. Oh, you've covered her many times over the years here and there, but this post was the best yet. Placing responsibility upon Tom Orloff was not something I've been willing to do until now. When the Tribune article that you linked to appeared, even then I was still too much under the influence of grieving murder (yes, still true at 32 years last January) to truly hear the meaning behind Orloff's assertion that I needed to put it behind me. To ask anyone to put murder behind them is nothing short of preposterous and unthinkable. And I've spent years being understanding about the context of the times in which all this took place combined with the limited resources/abilities of the Alameda County District Attorney's Office and the Berkeley Police Department. It just never made sense to me to get angry with that reality. However, your posting sums it all up extremely well, putting into perspective how those who know (both the do-ers and those it was done to) are affected and permanently live with everyone's past actions. As I watch the 33rd year pass since our mother disappeared, this I know: the do-ers will continue to live with the guilt and the knowledge of what they participated in. And at least one child of the do-ers (as well as my children) will always be affected by the murder of our mother. Whether or not they choose to face it or remain in denial, it doesn't really matter -- their lives will always contain homicide(s) in their hearts. Thank you, David, from my brother and me, for keeping the flame lit on this. Tamara
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