More Gratitude Sam has a new best buddy Alex. I was really glad to when Sam came home and told me about Alex. Sam is a kid who functions best with an official best friend. Sam hasn’t had an official best friend since Jacob in preschool nearly a year and a half ago.

Before I knew it Sam was scheduling a play date with this kid. Saturday came and we went over to drop Sam off at Alex's. We met Alex and his parents. They did not seem like they were gun toting, pedophile, country western fans. So we figured Sam was relatively safe there and Chuck and I took off for the grocery store.

In the middle of all this, I had been planning Sam's birthday party. I had been obsessing over the details and trying to micromanaged the whole thing. Not feeling a whole lot of gratitude. Then Chuck comes home after having retrieved Sam from Alex's house. "Do you know what Alex’s mother told me," he asked. "She told me that Alex has leukemia and he just finished treatment six months ago," he said.

O.K. so maybe the birthday party details are not all that important. And maybe I should pull my head out of …well you know.  ¶ 11/23/2005 07:47:00 PM