Many happy returns

My husband came back from the South yesterday, after having spent nine days writing about Katrina for the Dispatch. He's exhausted. But glad to be home. And, I can tell, glad to have been able to help tell the stories of some of the folks affected by the disaster.

And: my good, good friend Shannon and her brood are back in Ohio after having lived in France for the past four years. It feels so good to have her back. We've been friends for almost 15 years. We've been present at the births of each others' babies; we've been through some major life trials together; I love and adore her husband, kids, parents, in-laws, etc.; she knows--and somehow keeps track of--my parents and my eight siblings and their families.

She's just a precious, precious person to me. And now she lives less than two hours away.

Life is good.