Things that Pirates Don't Have

I'm not sure how to start this blog so I'll just dive right in.

Last week I wrote the Swingset blog. In case you missed it, I extolled the virtue of not living your life thinking about how others view you. I think that this particular blog was fairly easy to take the wrong way because it might have seemed a little cold.

As the days get warmer and the arrival of the pirate baby nears, I can't help but wonder what kind of life we can offer our little pillager. In some ways I know that we have a lot to offer him - we have a loving home and we are financially comfortable. However, there are times when I wonder if we are going to be short-changing him in certain areas.

This weekend was kind of a reminder as to how he might be disadvantaged in some areas. First, we do not live in a neighborhood. Rebecca and I each grew up on a block where there were many young kids around. I loved the way that we would meet up every summer day at 11 a.m. so that we could start our day of swimming and baseball. As you may know, we live in an area where there houses are far apart (we've never met the people that live on either side of us).

Second, we have little to offer in the way of family or social interaction. I was the youngest of twenty grandchildren (it may be more than that now - I stopped counting a while ago) and we used to have fantastic family parties when I was a young boy (before everyone moved away or went their own way). Rebecca's parents and brother are fantastic but at the end of the day the family starts and ends with them.

Maybe there is a silver lining to all of this. A few years ago a friend of mine had gotten divorced and she considered moving back to the area to raise her two kids. Her rationale for doing this was that she had such a great childhood that she wanted her kids to have the same. I suggested that the way that she was raising her kids was just fine and that she didn't need to try to replicate her own childhood for her kids. I suppose that I should follow my own advice.

And if you're wondering, no, I wouldn't change a thing. The people that are in my life are here for a reason and those that aren't... I wouldn't change a thing.

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As you may have heard, one of my favorite people is extremely ill. That's right - Christopher Hitchens has esophageal cancer. Apparently this is one of the deadliest cancers and the survival rate is quite low.

I can't tell you how much this bums me out. There are few people on this planet that can challenge us to think critically and be our own person like Hitch can. I'm halfway through his memoirs and I feel like a complete dullard when reading about all that he has done.

I have a couple of thoughts on this. As you may know, this kind of cancer is often found in people that use heavy amounts of alcohol and tobacco and Hitch has been a longtime admirer of smoke and drink. At times he has even extolled both vices as virtues (he even went so far as to appear in Thank You For Smoking). It is kind of creepy to hear this news only days after hearing him talk about smoking and drinking in his book.

Also, I've perused several news sites that carried the story. I couldn't help but notice the amount of people that wrote comments like "Good" or "God is getting his revenge" or "I wonder if he is praying now". I know that these people do not speak for the majority of Christians but it is still sad to read these comments. After all, why is he so threatening to them? Because he doesn't believe what they believe? That says a lot.

And for the record, I can guarantee you that he isn't praying.