Two Problems

Today, I am facing two problems. First, a wonderful pile of books. Second, sending my son to Afghanistan.

1. The pile of books I hoped to read this summer is not shrinking. It is growing. My son (here is his blog) came for a quick 2 day visit before heading to Italy and then Afghanistan. We share a love for books, so we spent a long time in Barnes and Noble where we wandered and laughed - an amazing mental health time together.

2. Letting him go is next to unbearable. One way to do this is through distraction - Treat and I found a bunch of books to read. I found two I want him to read (Malcom Gladwell's Outliers and Tom Rath's Strengths Finder 2.0) and he found a cool work of fiction for entertainment worthy of a long haul trip to Europe in a few days. I found Glenn Beck's Common Sense and Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs. Did I mention that I am also reading Katherine Howe's novel The Physick Book Diliverance Dane and David Sederek's When You Are Engulfed in Flames. The semester starts in 2.5 weeks. I am letting go of any expectation to have read all of these books and know that other books will certianly join the book pile (never ending).

The problem is clear. Too many books and not enough time. The bigger problem: letting my son go to the Army to do his job (defend our country), for which he is eminantly qualified and prepared to do in a very dangerous place.

There are no good solutions to these problems.