MAY OUR HEALING BEGIN

This week the nation witnessed an unimaginable tragedy in Tucson, Arizona when a gunmen opened fire at an open forum with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She remains in critical condition as do several others who were wounded at this event. Six people, including 9 year-old girl Christina-Taylor Green born on 9/11/01, were not so lucky and perished from the gunman's bullets.

Since that horrific event, there has been near-constant finger pointing and politicization. Thus, it was a breath of fresh air to watch President Obama's address from Arizona today.



President Obama's remarks were delivered with sorrow but also grace and the knowledge that we as a country will not be broken by this act. Indeed, he cited the fallen as ideals to which we should strive and whom we cannot let down with our behavior. He spoke of elevating our debate and focusing on civility. He shared with us the untainted view that 9 year-old Christina had of politics and what she must have hoped to get out of the event with Congresswoman Giffords last weekend. He reminded us that while we cannot stop all evil in this world, we are in control of ourselves and our actions. He reminded me why I am lucky to be alive with the family and friends that I call my own and why I put my trust in him some 4 years ago.

The mood in the country may not shift to civility after this speech. Rancor and partisan sniping may persist. Yet, on this January day in 2011, like that September day in 2001, we were all Americans first and whatever else divides us second.



The sign shown above from President Obama's address says it all. May our healing begin...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

This is our little one's performance from her school's holiday show. Enjoy!

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Kathleen and I saw "The Social Network," the new movie about the origins of Facebook last night. While I have not seen many of the presumptive Oscar nominees, I can safely say that there will not be a more compelling and contemporary film shown this year.

The movie is fictionalized, but it is based largely on facts/interviews with the major players. We will never know for certain what motivated Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder, on so many occasions in the film, which is part of the film's charm. Some see Zuckerberg as a social misfit merely seeking to best all those who have wronged him or made him to feel unwelcome, but this is a superficial analysis.

While Zuckerberg clearly appears to have some difficulty relating to people, it is clear that he understands the power of relationships and how to capitalize on our desire to "relate" to people. If he did not, there would not be half a billion Facebook users.

The film made me as a former Facebook user (I quit after one year), think about what that site means. For me, it is an invention of the electronic age that makes it acceptable to be boastful, malicious, audacious, and downright juvenile. While people have always demonstrated these traits, Facebook gives the ordinary person a voice onstage with a megaphone. Fundamentally, most humans crave this. They need to be heard, and they are heard loud and clear day in and day out on Facebook. In that way, they want exactly what Zuckerberg may have wanted when he made the site.

This brings me to my final point. If everyone is yelling what they want whenever they want, when does all of this cease to be music and become noise? I found that I liked the people with whom I was "friends" less and less with every status update, every comment, and every tagged photo. It was not so much over-exposure to these individuals as underexposure to anything resembling a real and deep connection that made me leave. In he end, I wanted my real friends back (most of whom were not members) rather than my "friends."

In many ways, I think Facebook makes its users forget what real friendship is and that "seeing" your friends everyday does not compare with being with your friends... even if your contacts are only through email, phone calls, or face-to-face connections once every decade. I, for one, will take friendships over social networks any day.

Consider this shared.

BLESSED

I have been attending on the inpatient service this weekend, which always makes me a little introspective. This weekend was particularly busy, and my fellow, who is quite good and who never complains, seemed a little put out. I reminded her that any of the 11 patients with incurable cancer on our service would trade their ills for hers in a heartbeat. This seemed to resonate with both of us.

Here are some of the many reasons why I feel blessed.

A BEACH IN SAN FRANCISCO WITH MY FAVORITE PEOPLE















THE BUDDY SYSTEM AT ARBOR (Nicholas and Alex, his Senior buddy whom he reveres, are pictured)



MR. CLAUS



THE KIDDOS AND THEIR SOCCER-LOVING DAD







Enough said.

VIVA BARCA!

This week, the two greatest football clubs in recent years faced off. It was a match between the much beloved Football Club Barcelona and their arch rivals, Real Madrid. Barca, as Barcelona is known, has the motto mes que un club, or more than a club. Indeed, they pay Unicef for the rights to place the Unicef name and logo on their jerseys, one of the most lucrative pieces of advertising space in the world. The Real jerseys on the other hand are emblazoned with the logo of an online betting site called bwin.com. Hopefully, you are appreciating the difference between these two clubs.



Leading up to the game, there was a lot of trash talk, particularly from the Madrid side. However, once the teams took the field, action spoke louder than words.

To say that the outcome was surprising would be an understatement as both teams came in with winning streaks and had dominated their recent opponents. However, this was a one-sided affair, and the Blaugrana (Catalan for blue and deep red, which are Barca's colors) were the dominant team. No one could have predicted a 5-0 victory, but that is exactly what we saw. All five goals are shown here.

The contrast in scoring was only overshadowed by the contrast in playing style. Madrid seemed listless and confused while Barcelona put on a show- yes, a show. Seeing them pass the ball, occupy space, and work as one unit was a wonder to watch.



While my favorite player Lionel Messi (shown above) did not score a goal, he set up three of his teammates and drew attention and fire from Real. He was the hero to the anti-hero of Real, Christiano Ronaldo, a Portuguese bad boy who at one point in the match shoved the Barcelona coach. Ronaldo, however, was held scoreless, and the best man did win out in this showdown.

I was reminded during this match, that soccer can be quite beautiful. Watching those eleven men work masterfully as a team was like watching an orchestra in action. These days, no one plays better than Barca, and I look forward to many more years of watching this team's sweet music.

THE KING'S GARDEN

Last week, Nicholas' class invited the parents to the "opening" of a restaurant. Some kids had suggested the name Burger King, but given that the menu was comprised largely of food from the earth, the name King's Garden won out.

After doing a mini scavenger hunt in his classroom with us, Nicholas and his classmates lined up and headed over to the Arena, the site of the King's Garden. Later, Kathleen and I walked in with another couple, and the dad and I spoke for several minutes. Nicholas waited patiently by the wall with the other "servers." I caught sight of an eager look in his eye, so I headed over. I found him wearing an apron he had sewn by hand that had a name tag he had made with his name spelled on it (correctly). He approached us and said, "May I show you to your seats?" Then, he walked us over to a table and sat us down.



He first told us about the menu and then used his pencil and order pad (shown above) to write down our requests. Within a few minutes, he returned with 2, make that 3, carrot muffins with white chocolate chips, 2 granolas, and 2 fruit salads. He lingered to eat with us, but he also freely moved about the Arena where the breakfast was held.

This contrasts with just one month ago. At that time, Nicholas routinely squeezed my hand more tightly whenever we saw a teacher or student he did not know at school while we walked the grounds on the days I dropped him off. Many days, there was a palpable sense of anxiousness in him. However, the King's Garden was quite different. I saw our little boy so at ease... so in his element.

At the end of the "opening," all the kids came together and sang a song. It was amazing to see these 5-7 year olds (both of the "primary" classes are mixed age classes made up of kindergartners and first-graders) singing and smiling in unison. Nicholas' solo rendition is reproduced below.



The last line of the song stills gives me goosebumps whenever I hear it because I know how true it is for our little guy.

Something great is definitely inside of him and Arbor!

ASK (ENOUGH) AND (SOMETIMES) YE SHALL RECEIVE

This weekend we went to Tacoma for the day to visit Kathleen's sister and to check out the Point Defiance Zoo once again. On our last visit, I caught a brief glimpse of one of the zoo's prized animals- an aardvark. Mr. Nicholas, however, was not so lucky. Therefore, one of our goals for this trip was to see the aardvark.



When we got to the zoo, we attempted to find the aardvark and approached two young zookeepers. They said that the aardvark had just starred in a show that we missed and that he would not be out again that day. This was despite the fact that I explained that a certain five year-old was dying to see him.

However, I was not deterred, and I was not going to be denied. Therefore, several minutes later I approached another zookeeper and explained our situation. He was more sympathetic and immediately used his walkie talkie to call the keeper in charge of the aardvark. A few minutes later he came and told us where to go to see the aardvark and mentioned that we owed him big! I thanked him and headed off with Nicholas.

We were met by one of the original young zookeepers who was taking "Tilly" (as in rototiller) out for his walk. It was an amazing sight to see, particularly given the fact that only eighteen U.S. zoos have aardvarks. Nicholas was excited, but I must confess I was even happier to see this animal.

After we parted ways with Tilly I told Nicholas that one does not always get what one wants. However, I also made it clear that one certainly would not get what one wanted if one did not ask for it! Here's to Tilly... and to perseverance!