1am, Monday morning

Hi everyone:

It's late. We should probably be in bed, but we're in our "deep philosophical discussion mode, " as Patty describes it, and this tends to inject new life into evenings that might otherwise appear to be winding down.

For some reason, the later evening hours inspire the most creative solutions to problems, and the greatest optimism about quick resolution of said problems.

Funny, though, how quickly that optimism seems to fade if one heads to bed and cannot sleep. I've found that 3am is the worst time to try to take on the world, and also the loneliest. Sometimes, even if good sense would dictate that staying up is unwise, it's hard to let go of the feeling that you're winning the battles, so 1am can stretch into 2am with little fanfare.

I want to get back to my chat with Patty. To be honest, my reason for logging on was to share this photo of my amazing wife -- I snapped it about 15 minutes ago. Patty looks so healthy that, in these optimistic hours of the morning, I can forget about heart attacks, and pacemakers, and transplants, and just remember that I am a very fortunate man.

Love,
Brian