May You Live In Interesting Times

Please excuse the distracted nature of this. I don't know how well I'm stringing words together tonight, and large parts of me don't really care. In many ways this has been the best Christmas season we've ever had. Both our time and our finances have been less constrained, so we've been able to enjoy little things that make big memories. One of our mutual Christmas presents came early, which means we now have fully wireless TiVos. There's a method to our madness, and as usual that method involves bicycles. Now Tim can watch Mythbusters in the garage while riding his rollers. Theoretically I can also listen to my iTunes through the television, although I'm starting to wonder whether I'll ever be inclined to do so.

In many other ways this is quite possibly the worst Christmas season we've ever had. A boy we've known since he was about 7 killed himself this weekend. He was 17. All day I've had memories of him over the years, and it doesn't seem real that he's actually gone. We weren't really that close--because what teenage boy wants to hang out with a nerdy old friend of his dad's? But he was someone who moved in my universe, and his parents are close friends of ours. It's one of those shocking wounds that hurts everyone in some way, whether through gaping wounds or pinpricks of guilt. I imagine that as bad as all of us feel there is no way we can fathom the great pain that led him to this point. I hope his soul finds peace now.

Oddly enough I got a letter from my mom today (if you knew my mom you'd know how odd this is...) with pictures of my 2 week-old niece. Quite a feeling, to go careening from death to birth like that. Even more interesting how God reminds you of the vagaries of circumstance when you least expect it.