Life is what you make it.

January was particularly bitter and with the news that Mom's health was in question it fast became particularly cold and heartless. I suddenly realized that throughout my life I had never really seen my Mom or Dad sick and it was such a shock to all of us that she was facing some big health issues. This was even harder given the fact that she has always taken such good care of herself. Dad would say she hadn't drunk enough red wine, however that would be his comment for just about every ailment we have all ever suffered. In true Schur form we all congregated around Boston on February 10th and waited together as Mom, the bravest lady of all time, went into surgery. She may be a tiny little thing but she is still the strongest woman I know. A number of long hours later Dr. Libertino came out and gave us the best news of 2005. Mom was fine and there would be no ongoing health issues for her to face. As I watched my wonderfully brave father burst into tears, I realized that he h...

Another year ending in piles of Xmas wrapping and squeals of pleasure in our families houses. However difficult each year might be, we have had 41 happy endings so far. I am so proud of my children and the great job they have done with theirs. The first ever family get together with good friends went as well as it could. Everyone got along and it was fun to renew old acquaintances with Stephanie a cousin we have not seen since 1967, though they live one state away, and my sister who has never been to North America. I think even the kids had a sense of having some larger family out there somewhere. The seven year olds, eight as of yesterday, were so sweet dressed and performing as waiters, writing orders on their pads and bringing people drinks by name. There was only one argument,and that was a Democrat versus Republican ado about whether Global warming is happening or not. My Republican friend foolishly took on the head of Astrophysics at Columbia University and was too full of singl...

One of my primary jobs is to encourage everyone to wander off on other paths from time to time. It is frequently intimidating to follow the weighty, well-written and thoughtful posts of my dear papa. In fact, for some time I have been paralyzed by an inability to post comparively trivial items. Forging onward, I love this posting on middle-america. I dwell in the heartland, and find it at times to be a comfortable place to be. In many ways it is more honest than the "cultured" coasts of this land. I mean no disrespect to eather coastal or heartland dwellers, at times I am both (technically I am each week....although New Jersey is not that different to Illinois). This post is both a commentary on suburbia, as well as a backhanded analysis of the core of Starbucks success. We could go in either direction, but over a glass of wine this weekend I would like to explore the strategy behind this, a subject that may have some interest to my sibling.