[Billie]

Good morning, Dubya. Hope your day is just fantastic!

[Dubya]

"Worry"

Is there a magic cutoff period when offspring become
accountable for their own actions? Is there a
wonderful moment when parents can become detached
spectators in the lives of their children and shrug,
"It's their life," and feel nothing?

When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital
corridor waiting for doctors to put a few stitches
in my son's head. I asked, "When do you stop
worrying?" The nurse said, "When they get out of the
accident stage." My mother just smiled faintly and
said nothing.

When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair
in a class-room and heard how one of my children
talked incessantly, disrupted the class, and was
headed for a career making license plates. As if to
read my mind, a teacher said, "Don't worry, they all
go through this stage and then you can sit back,
relax and enjoy them." My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting
for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the
front door to open. A friend said, "They're trying
to find themselves. Don't worry, in a few years, you
can stop worrying. They'll be adults." My mother
just smiled faintly and said nothing.

By the time I was 50, I was sick &tired of being
vulnerable. I was still worrying over my children,
but there was a new wrinkle there was nothing I
could do about it. My mother just smiled faintly and
said nothing.

I continued to anguish over their failures, be tormented by their frustrations and absorbed in their disappointments.

My friends said that when my kids got married I
could stop worrying and lead my own life. I wanted
to believe that, but I was haunted by my mother's
warm smile and her occasional, "You look pale. Are
you all right? Call me the minute you get home. Are
you depressed about something?"

Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime
of worry? Is concern for one another handed down
like a torch to blaze the trail of human frailties
and the fears of the unknown? Is concern a curse or
is it a virtue that elevates us to the highest form
of life?

One of my children became quite irritable recently,
saying to me, "Where were you? I've been calling for
3 days, and no one answered. I was worried." I
smiled a warm smile. The torch has been passed.

[Dubya]

Very good day so far Billie.
This is the worst year I have ever had in my business. I sold another house today.
Things seem to have picked up in the last three weeks. Its hard to tell if it will last. With the Fed Reserve bring intrest rates up it should stop business.