"January 1, 2010"

A nice round number don't you think. The very symmetry of it appeals to me. I think we should have a good year.

January 1st also usually brings some snow with it and with the snow, footprints. Since Claudette is always out on the road before me I generally have the pleasure of following in her footsteps. Unfortunately I can say this only in a figurative sense because she literally takes 5 steps for every 4 of mine. Interestingly enough however I think that the difference in our stride lengths can also be a metaphor for our different personalities. I don't know if she will agree but I guess I'll find out. Claudette has traditionally taken smaller more cautious steps in her journey through life while I have plunged ahead heedlessly. What I find even more interesting however is that in the last few years that seems to have changed significantly. I would almost say we have reversed our styles in this regard. I am now more hesitant than I used to be and she now moves quicker into things than she would have before. I think the period of my illness has perhaps impacted us both in how we approach life. I think for her that's been a good thing but I think the jury is still out on me. I may make less mistakes than I used to but somehow this caution just doesn't suit my style.

Whats the point of all this? I think just the idea that we all move through life with different stride lengths at different times. That also sometime means that we move at different speeds at different times and as such we occasionally tend to lose touch with each other. Parents and children are a prime example of this, siblings as well, and of course partners. I think it's important to acknowledge this reality in order to find peace in life but also important to remember that what has changed before will change again. Who knows what tomorrow looks like?

Throughout it all I am just grateful to my wife for telling me to slow down when I needed to and to pick it up when she needed me beside her. I know that our strides won't always be in sync but I know we'll always meet back home later in the day!

... this one is birlliant I think....

“Pain reaches the heart with electrical speed, but truth moves to the heart as slowly as a glacier."---Barbara Kingsolver

....and a little humour to compensate for my seriousness...

“If you are in a spaceship that is traveling at the speed of light, and you turn on the headlights, does anything happen?"---Stephen Wright

love
peter