Good Morning and welcome to, for many, a short week!

You know, there are a lot of cliches out in the wild, wild world. There are many about smiles. Let a smile be your umbrella. A smile makes the world look brighter. When your smiling, the whole world smiles with you.
Those cliches, although maybe dated, are right on the money.
Yesterday was a special girl's fifth birthday.
Five years ago, there were a lot of concerns about her. She had trouble breathing right away. There were concerns about her heart. She was on a respirator for the first week of her life. After being able to leave the hospital, she wasn't allowed to leave the house for six months (except to go to the doctor).
While watching her dance and sing during Sunday's birthday party, I was taken back five years. I remember looking at her through the plastic covering, all wires and blankets.
I remember the next day finally being able to hold her, telling her everything was going to be OK. I remember sitting in the critical care area having her lay on my belly and gently fall asleep.
Five years later, she won't fall asleep on my belly. She's blossomed into a beautiful young girl. She has friends. She holds her own (and then some) with her older brothers. She dances. She sings.
Most of all, though, she smiles. Those smiles can melt your heart. They truly make a rainy day turn bright and sunny.
So, I asked last night, 'Malena, now that your five do you still have time for your Daddy?'
"Sure," she said. "How about 10 minutes?"
Then she smiled and I knew everything would be OK.

Good Morning and welcome to another Thursday!

Well, it's been seven years since airplanes piloted by terrorists slammed into the Twin Towers in New York, the Pentagon and a field outside of Pittsburgh.
Do schools cover this material during social studies class or is it still too new for everybody?
In those seven years, the world has changed all over. We are locked in a couple of unending wars and many more are wondering where their jobs went and how to pay the bills.
Still, think back seven years and most people probably remember what was happening.
It was a nice, sunny day, not unlike today. There was a leak in the car and I was standing out back with the hood up while a 2-year old was running around.
A neighbor came out his back door and said something like, "I was listening to Howard Stern and he said there is something happening in New York."
OK, I thought, some kind of stupid radio joke thing. Then the phone rang:
"Have you seen what's going on?"
No. I was outside. Wes said something about Howard Stern.
"Turn on the news. NOW!"
So, I gathered up a 2-year old who just wanted to stay outside. Ran up the steps and saw what was happening. Planes were crashing into buildings. There were reports of others in the air. All flight was grounded. Really, in those first few moments, nobody knew what was going on.
The rest of the day is kind of a blur. Eat lunch, drive to work. Everything was shut down. Suddenly, the 'normal' things were not so normal.
Even if you didn't know anybody killed in New York or Washington or Pennsylvania, you have been changed.
Now, seven years later, nothing is 'normal.' Sure. We've moved on. We've gotten back to our lives. We've fought, loved, played. Maybe that's the best way we can remember. Try to make our world better every day.

Good Morning, Delaware County!

By now, most readers know or have heard about the sadness going through the Daily Times newsroom. Of course, it's not centralized here. The sadness is spread throughout the county and beyond.
It's not something you are 'supposed' to go through. To not be able to see the smile again will leave a hole in our hearts forever.
It will never heal, but, because it's how we deal with things, we move on. We try to forget, but that's not possible.
So, we listen to the bird sing. We watch children enjoy a game. We search for any kind of happiness, no matter how small.
That flower that wasn't growing at all is suddenly blooming. We say 'Good Morning,' 'Good afternoon,' 'Good evening' to people at work and on the street. We hold the door for a second longer at the Wawa.
We maybe lay off the horn for a few days while driving. We give the benefit of the doubt to the woman who has 12 items in the 10 items or less line.
We watch the sun rise. We watch the sun set. We marvel at the shape of clouds. We notice the Cardinal flying through the trees.
We wonder at the 3-year old practicing ballet. We cheer an 8-year old and 5-year old playing baseball. We are in awe of all the work Mom does at home while balancing work.
We try to find the best out in the world so we don't have to think about the loss. We'll never forget, the hole will never actually heal, but we'll shield it off. We'll battle through.


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