tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3711702.post-43528634534231353612007-09-09T16:14:00.001-05:002007-09-09T22:41:25.031-05:00I finished reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tuesdays-Morrie-Young-Greatest-Lesson/dp/0307275639/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-5334409-3137256?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189372582&sr=1-1">Tuesdays with Morrie</a> this morning and began <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lewis-Letters-Children-C-S-Classics/dp/0684823721/ref=sr_1_1/105-5334409-3137256?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1189372526&sr=8-1">C.S. Lewis' Letters to Children</a>. Both books advocate the throwing off of our dour adult mantle and a return to the sense of wonder and glee embraced by young children. As Lewis wrote: "When I was 10, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am 50 I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."<br /><br />I am a person who still thinks it very important to act "very grown up." It's hard for Kelsey to elicit belly laughs from me, although this doesn't keep her from tickling me incessantly until they come. And I have a particular aversion to singing or dancing in public.<br /><br />Luckily, Kelsey is my secret weapon in the fight against becoming too serious. As Mr. Darcy has his Elizabeth Bennet, I have Kelsey, who has no compunctions about splashing about in the ocean just for fun. And who melts into a 5'7" pile of goo at the sight of any small furry creature, be it cat, dog, squirrel, raccoon, meerkat or capybara. Her songs, made up on the spot about our cats Truffle and Marzipan, will never win any songwriting awards, but the love and whimsy they evince are priceless.<br /><br />She keeps me grounded and pokes holes in my hot air, and I love her for that.<br /><br />Thanks, Buster.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13911433563740528588noreply@blogger.com