News of the day

I'm elated today and the source of this joy is my children. I'm elated for my children. I can't spend a lot of time writing here today, as I need to give all my writing juices to the book, but last night my son got the notice to report for the physical agility test for the FDNY, which is the first step in the process of actually joining the fire department. If you've been reading here awhile, you know that to be a firefighter-medic has been his dream. (His other dream is to coach the U.S. National Track and Field Team, so let's hold that thought too, shall we?)

My choir had the last of our spring concerts last night. It was at the Library for the Blind, which is quite a distance out in Queens. My husband kindly came to pick me up and drop three of my fellow choir mates home afterward. While we were in the car on the rainy highway back to Manhattan, my son called in on the speaker phone. He asked where we where and when we'd be home. His dad told him, and he respond cryptically, "Well, I have some good news for you when you get home."

My husband and I tried to surmise what the good news could be and we both quickly landed on the FDNY. I'm always kind of tickled by how our kids have never questioned that what makes them happy will make us happy. When we walked into the apartment our son didn't say a word, just handed us the letter. We all hugged and I asked him how he felt. "Excited and nervous," he said, which I think is how it feels when you are passionate about a thing. The process still has a lot of playing out to do, but if our boy passes all the tests from here on out (physical, psychological, medical, etc) I think it means he gets hired and then will do an EMT refresher course at the FDNY Academy before hitting the streets in the rig.

Meanwhile a poster landed in my email box last night from a nutrition and yoga center that is hosting a collaborative Cook & Dine group to teach healthy and enjoyable eating this summer. It is led by a therapist, a nutritionist and a guest chef who will be none other than my daughter! I knew this was in the works but when I saw the poster with my daughter's picture and official sounding bio, alongside a New York University trained professor and therapist, and a Columbia University trained nutritionist and yoga instructor, I was pretty darn excited for her. She may not want to own her own restaurant any more, but look, she's still being a chef.

So that's my news for today. Now back to work. I've got to get to a certain word count before I head back out to Oakland next week to sit down with my now 97-year-old subject and go over what we have so far.