Don't Forget to Hug Your Kids, Monty and Dean

I have a bad habit of staying up waaaaaaay too late. I do have the luxury of sleeping in later than most mommies do, so that is part of the problem. The problem I have been having recently is that my head hits the pillow at 1:30 or so and I lie there for an hour or more before I can fall asleep. It is maddening. Then I'm so sleepy at 4:00 p.m., I don't think I can keep my eyes open, but I force myself too - telling myself I will go to bed early. Somewhere around 11:30 p.m., I usually get my second wind. Strange schedule I'm having these days.

So last night is no different than most of my nights. Yesterday was a good day - a typical day mostly. At one point I read Danny's blog about the 2996 Tribute where you could write a tribute to on of the 9/11 victims on your blog, so I signed up and got a man's name, a New Yorker, that died in the World Trade Center. He was 39 when he died. So as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, it dawns on me that if this man were still alive, he'd be about one year older than me. From there, my mind wanders to someone I think is about one year older than me. The two names I came up with are Monty Shaw and Dean Fry. I'm pretty sure Monty is a year older than me...not as sure about Dean...he may even be a year younger than me - I just can't remember. So as I lay there, I begin thinking about writing a tribute to someone I don't know - but imagining that this man was as important to his family and friends as Monty and Dean are to their families. Somehow, that made it so much more real. It was almost as if I was mourning Monty and Dean. It was crazy! I should have called both of them today just to make sure they were OK, but I feel pretty certain they are. So I began to grieve for this unknown man - and began to think if there would be some way to contact his family and find out more about him before I do my tribute to him. All this to say....why do I have to come up with such thought provoking topics so late at night.

I hope Monty and Dean had a good day today. Be sure to hug your kids and tell your wife you love her - and stay out of New York City if at all possible. I'll let you know if I get any more weird vibes about your demise.

I really hope Dean is older than me. Surely with all of those kids, he is!