My mother at nineteen, with me as a newborn.

Seventy-five years ago today, the 18th of January in 1932, my mother was born, and today those who love her celebrate that event and rejoice at the generosity of the grand scheme that allows us to continue enjoying the world with her in it.

Like most lives, my mother's has followed a meandering path through hills and valleys full of events great and tragic, small and trivial, seemingly inconsequential but actually life-altering, with unexpected twists and turns that presented... more

Just in case there's any question of how much Mark loves his son, there will always be this shot that proves, without a doubt, they he'll do anything for him ...

including driving around a big, fluffy dinosaur-like, motorized monster ... in public ... for twenty minutes while the wife naps pictures and giggles mercilessly while singing, "Born to be Wild" at the top of her voice.

While some put energy into worrying about transracial relationships, others are happy to jump not only species, but clear out of the phyla, "Chordata" and go all the way (not literally, I hope) with a mollusk. Yep, love in my garden is a shell game, with Sam's Giant Aldabra Tortoise, Helmut, and the unnamed snail who appears to have developed a strong attachment.

Helmut and Sam are the same age, four, as it's a tradition... more

Thanks to the loving care of two Cambodian women, my kids came to me primed and ready for more of the same, expecting their needs to be met, their cries answered and cuddles and kisses to come their way regularly. Sam and Cj both entered AOA ... Asian Orphans Association, an orphanage outside Phnom Penh ... as newborns, and within minutes of arrival they were assigned nannies.

There's no stacking kids like cordwood in nurseries at AOA, no one-size-fits-all feeding schedules, no run-off-their feet workers trying to meet... more

Kelly's mom and Mark are cousins, so that makes Sam and Kelly ... related. (I'm not clear on the 'second-cousins or cousins-once-removed' thing.) Not only are they some flavor of cousins, they're also good friends who've spent a lot of time together since they both started at the same pre-school at just over one-year-old.

Kelly is exactly one week younger than Sam, but has always been a tiny little girl making it appear that the age difference is greater ... if all that's taken into account is size. Anyone... more

I love where I live. Yes, I do.

But I hate how far away this island is from so many I love. My mother, a daughter and a son, and very importantly, my granddaughter, Addie, are all on the other side of the planet, a great distance that feels even more daunting when I long for that little girl. I had hoped and planned to be in North Carolina when my daughter gave birth, but things didn't turn out that way. Due to some issues, it was necessary to bring Addie into the world a few weeks earlier than anticipated, and an emergency... more

This Love Thursday is a tale of kisses.

It begins with Cj watching George of the Jungle kiss Ursula, which inspired her to plant a wet one on her brother's head ... Sam got into the mood and managed to wrangle her into position for a smooch to her arm ... Having him blow kisses at me inspired a Mom-to-Cj lip snuggle ... And that's a Love Thursday at our house.

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When Mark and I met in 1993, we started a conversation that continues with barely a lag to this day. We talk about everything and nothing, and would rather blather together than solve the problems of the world with anyone else. On working days, we phone each other many times with tidbits of news or thoughts or reminders, and when we're both in the same place we tend to communicate almost constantly through words or touch, eye contact and laughs.

Although there are times when our wires get crossed, we're most often on the same... more

Thanksgiving outside the US is so NOT a holiday. This makes it even harder for me to be on the other side of the planet for my favorite of all holidays, as the lack of whoop-la only serves to emphasize just how lame my attempts to rope folks into the spirit of it all are.

(Not that I don't get a good turn-out and enthusiastic accolades for a well-turned bird! People are always happy to eat the turkey, but they just don't get it.)

It's my mom I miss most this time of year. Her Thanksgiving routine is so routine... more

Although I'd been through the baby thing before, having started raising my first two kids more than thirty years before, Mark was new to the game when Sam came home in early 2003. We had parented our foster son, T, for a couple of years, but he was two-years-old when that process began, so baby stuff was behind him.

As with many grownup guys in our world, Mark had a passing familiarity with infants ... he know roughly what shape they were, and was aware of their prodigious abilities to manufacture fluids... more