Kat and Banj,

Thanks for your thoughts and remember I live by Lord Byron's line..."If I laugh at any mortal thing,'tis that I may not weep." When I read Jean's wonderful song my first inclination was for a couple of sarcastic remarks like I made in the last paragraph. But knowing what the song meant to kat, I had to tell the truth first. What would you have thought if I'd made a few smart-ass comments and signed off? I've said before that I'm rarely offemded at anything except the way we treat each other and I would never harm another's soul knowingly.

Banj I thank you for your very kind words about Tristan and Michael. We were the most fortunate of adoptive parents to be able to bring Tris home from the hospital. Tris could be 10 times worse and we were expecting that. Damn fool doctor would NOT release him until we were able to assure her that we knew all about Tristan's probabilities...Well actually I ended up threatening her, but...He is indeed a special child and a special gift to Karen and I. Michael on the other hand...came to us as a foster placement when he was 9 months old. We worked hard to reunite him with his birthmother, but when that became apparent that she couldn't do it, we fought hard to keep him. We finalized his adoption in record time. Mike is the child my Mom promised me I'd have...You know, every Mother's curse: "I hope you have one that acts just like you!." She'd been 25 years gone and he is adopted, but the damn thing works ... STILL!!!!! Aw, but he is truly the light of his Daddy's life!!! I guess some things are meant to happen. Like this might be significant or maybe just coincidence,BUT...We finalized Tristan's adoption on November 25, 1992; we walked into the courtroom at 2:00, our scheduled time, and finished at about 2:30. Ten blocks down the street, Michael was born at 2:15. Hmmm...go figure.

The teenagers are bugging me to take them skating and I'm late, so gotta' go! But thanks again.

catspaw