STRETCH FORWARD

This week, Nicholas started playing basketball on a rec team at our local community center. His interest in basketball is relatively new. However, like all of his interests, Nicholas has dived right into the game. He already has a fairly encyclopedic knowledge of the game and its star players. Therefore, it has been fun to watch Nicholas also become more interested in playing the game I loved growing up.

During Christmas vacation, we spent quite a bit of time playing at the court by my mom's house, and it was often two (Cate and Nicholas) against one (me). As you can guess, Cate already has mad skills, but Nicholas has also made significant progress in his technique.

At practice this week, we met Nicholas' new rec teammates, and they seems like a great group of kids. Nicholas was one of the more talented of the kids, and I cannot wait to see him play in his first game this weekend. His natural position appears to be a "stretch forward," and it is great to see him out there stretching himself forward!

Life is too short for just one sport, and here's to hoping that Nicholas can grow into both a player and fan of b-ball for years to come.

GRACE

Today marks the end of an era - the end of the Presidency of Barack Obama. In these past eight years, there has been incredible change in the world. However, one thing has remained constant in this country - President Obama's grace and character under extreme duress. Therefore, it was no surprise that President Obama delivered one of the most impassioned yet dignified farewell speeches in American history.

The catastrophe Obama inherited from George W. Bush - two wars and an economy in free fall - is probably only rivaled by the disaster Franklin Roosevelt faced during his Presidency. However, Obama did not complain. Rather, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work to help turn our country around and to putt us on much surer footing.

Because of President Obama, millions more Americans now have health insurance. Auto mileage standards are higher than ever, which may make a lasting effect on improving our environment. Bin Laden is dead. All of these achievements are even more remarkable when one considers the obstruction President Obama faced from the Republican Congress whose stated mission was to oppose the President at all costs. These "leaders" knew that Obama's vision of the country was one of post-partisanship, post-discrimination, post-fill-in-the-blank. If they could just prove that his vision was wrong, they knew that they could defuse his mandate and create a sense of cynicism in the American public. That they succeeded in this mission explains so much about the turn to populism that our country now faces. Let it be said - no, let it be screamed from the mountaintops - that the Republicans will own the havoc that will be wreaked in the next five years. They were enablers, appeasers, and villains.

Rather than merely hold these people in contempt, it is our job to speak up, to protest, to make our voices heard at the ballot box. There is no room for violence despite the fierce urgency of now. My hope is that the greatest movement for resistance will be created in this country and that we will win our country back through our words, deeds, and votes. Join in! The ride will be so much better with you along.

COMMONWEALTH

Sometimes a book comes along that really grabs you with its characters and its story. "Commonwealth" by Ann Patchett is one of those books.

I have loved Ann Patchett's writing ever since I read "Run," but "Commonwealth" is truly her finest. The books tells the story of two families thrown together by the infidelity of the mom of family #1 and the dad of family #2. Along the way, the children experience the fallout of this "shotgun" marriage, and their lives are changed in drastic ways.

At its core, "Commonwealth" is about disruption, disorder, and the messiness that comes with being in a family. Apparently this book was based on Patchett's own experiences, but the books resonates with anyone who has experienced messy, drawn-out family experiences. The adage "one cannot live without family, but one cannot live with family" is certainly an apt description for the book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.