December 5: Quality of Mercy, Daughter's Birthday, Christmas Potluck

Today is my daughter's eleventh birthday.  At exactly 7:29 this morning, she will have been a part of my life for one decade plus one year.  That's really difficult for me to believe.  The best thing I can say about my little girl is that she really is a good person.  There is not a mean bone in her body.  When she is confronted by meanness, she really has a difficult time.  She just wants to be friends with everyone, and, for the most part, she succeeds.

Happy birthday, baby

I don't know if I had anything to do with creating this wonderful, beautiful, funny, goofy, caring creature.  She humbles me.  When I'm in a terrible mood, she'll go into the kitchen and bring me a cup of water, a banana, or an oatmeal cream pie.  Last night, I was watching her dance to her new Wii game, Just Dance 3.  She was amazing, graceful, gorgeous.  Forgive a daddy for gushing, but my kid is truly a blessing in my life.

This morning, I received an e-mail from a person who has gotten herself into a very difficult circumstance.  She was asking me for a letter of reference.  By saying "difficult circumstance," I am not even approaching the level of shit this person has gotten herself into.  I thought long and hard about whether I should write the letter.  I believe "Marcy" deserves to be punished pretty severely for what she has done.  However, I also believe in the quality of mercy.  I wrote the letter and sent it to her.

The letter I wrote did not excuse Marcy's actions.  In fact, I said she needs to be held accountable for what she has done.  (I'm sorry for being so evasive, but I really can't discuss details.)  However, I asked for some kind of compassion.  I wrote a letter I would want somebody to write for my daughter.  If my daughter got into this kind of difficulty, I would want somebody to acknowledge her goodness.  That's what I tried to do for Marcy.

My coworker and I are having a little Christmas potluck this morning.  My coworker is leaving for her new job at the end of the week.  My life is going to become much more complicated come next Monday.  Anyway, she and I always exchange Christmas and birthday presents.  So this will be our annual Christmas party.  I made and chicken, cheese, and broccoli quiche for the occasion.  I also have her Christmas present.

I'm really going to miss my coworker.  She's a good person and caring friend.  While I like to say we'll stay in touch, I know it won't happen.  We'll exchange cards at Christmas.  Maybe we'll run into each other at Wal-Mart every once in a while.  For the most part, however, this will be the end of our close friendship.  That makes me quite sad.  As most of my disciples know, I don't do well with change.  This one really cuts close to the bone.

So, as you can tell, it's a morning of very mixed emotions.  Joy and compassion and sadness.

Saint Marty's just a mess.