THE DISILLUSIONIST--EDWARD ST. AUBYN, "I THINK MY MOTHER'S DEATH IS THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO ME SINCE . . . WELL, SINCE MY FATHER'S DEATH." MISSOULA IS DOING ITS PART TO REPLENISH THE SOCIAL SECURITY POT, KIDS, KIDS, AND MORE KIDS, AT THE CHRISTMAS PARADE AND TREE LIGHTING CEREMONIES, FUN, FUN, FUN, CUTE BABIES, LOVING COUPLES, SNEAKING A KISS BEHIND THEIR ANXIOUS CHILDREN'S BACKS, WHO WERE LOOKING DOWN THE STREET WAITING FOR THE BIG GUY OF THE NIGHT, SANTA! I THOUGHT HOW QUICK, THOSE WONDERFUL DAYS GO BY, AT LEAST FOR THE PARENTS. I WAS TALKING TO MY DAUGHTER, GRETA, WHO JUST INFORMED ME SHE WROTE AN E-BOOK, THAT IS FOR SELL ON AMAZON, CALLED, OF WORDS AND MOUNTAINS, HTTP://WWW.AMAZON.COM/DP/BOOQH9EXBU, $2.99 IF YOU WANT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF GREAT ATTORNEYS, SINCE THE GOVERNMENT WON'T LET HER, ATTORNEY, MOTHER MAKE ANY MONEY TO HELP HER GET TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA, LAW SCHOOL! BUT, GRETA, WAS INSPIRED, WHILE SHE WAS OUT ON A REMOTE PART OF THE ARIZONA STRIP WITH HER SONS, THREE OF THEM, WHILE HER NAVY SEAL HUSBAND, WAS IN COLUMBIA, RESCUING 123 YOUNG WOMEN, IN HUMAN BONDAGE FOR SEX SLAVERY, THE BOYS ALL UNDER THE AGE OF 10, AND SHE WORRIED THAT HER SON'S WOULD NOT KNOW HER, AS SHE FEARS THAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW HER OWN FATHER, NOTICING SOME SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS, IN HER OWN SELF, SO SHE WROTE THIS BOOK, WITH HER OLDEST SON, KAEL, AS A MAN, WRITING ABOUT HIS MOTHER. I CAN'T WAIT TO READ IT. A FEW MONTHS AGO, I SAID, TO MY OLDEST SON WITHOUT A NAME, GUILT BY ASSOCIATION, IN MY ONE AND ONLY QUESTION OF LOYALTY, SINCE MY DIVORCE FROM MY 4 CHILDREN'S FATHER, SOME 25 YEARS AGO, THAT MY FOUR CHILDREN WERE ALL CLOSER TO ME, THAN TO THEIR FATHER. MY SON, SAID, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT MOM, I HATE BOTH OF MY PARENTS! LOL! HE ALWAYS DID WANT TO BE A COMMEDIAN! I SUPPOSE EVERY CHILD IN THEIR THIRTIES, LOOKS BACK ON THE DAMAGE THEIR PARENTS, MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE DONE TO THEM, ANGRY THEY MAY NOT BE IN THE POSITION, THEY THINK THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN, HAD CHALLENGES IN FAMILY LIFE NOT HAVE BEEN THERE . . . BUT EVENTUALLY, ONE COMES TO THE CONCLUSION AND REALIZATION, THAT THE ONLY HANDS YOU CAN TRUST ARE THE ONES AT THE END OF YOUR OWN ARMS, AND IT IS NOBODIES FAULT BUT, YOURS, AS TO WHERE YOU ARE IN LIFE. THERE IS NO MAGIC RECEIPE FOR RAISING COOL KIDS. THAT IS NOT TO SAY, THAT PARENTS, CAN'T, AND HAVE, MADE THINGS MORE DIFFICULT THAN THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN OTHERWISE, BUT THAT DIFFICULTY MAY ACTUALLY BE THE FODDER, FOR THE ADULT YOU GROW INTO, AND THAT DIFFICULTY, ACTUALLY TURNED OUT FOR THE BETTERMENT OF SOCIETY OR THE WORLD AT LARGE, AS WAS MY BEATING FROM MY FATHER, MAKING ME KEENLY AWARE OF THE PLIGHT OF THE OPPRESSED, VICTIMS OF ALL KINDS, AND MAKING ME AN ADAMENT PROPONENT OF RIGHTS. I WANTED ALL MY CHILDREN TO BE FAMOUS, THEREFORE, AS MY ENGLISH PROFESSOR, AN OLD MARINE, STATED, NONE OF YOU WILL BE FAMOUS, BECAUSE YOUR LIVES HAVE NOT BEEN TRAGIC ENOUGH! WHAT? SO, I CREATED SOME TRAGEDY, TO ALLOW MY CHILDREN TO GROW. I REMEMBER AN EXPERIMENT, WHERE CELLS WERE PUT IN TWO PETRI DISHES, ONE WITH OPTIMAL CONDITIONS, THE OTHER, WITH SOME ADVERSE CONDITIONS--THE ONE IN THE ADVERSITY, GREW, THRIVED, WHILE THE OTHERS STAGNATED. SIMILARLY, A KID DID AN EXPERIMENT FOR A SCEINCE PROJECT, WHERE HE HAD TWO RATS, ONE HE FED ALL HEALTH FOOD, AND THE OTHER JUNK FOOD . . . THE JUNKIE RAT, LIVED AND THRIVED, THE OTHER DIED! THESE ARE LIMITED SAMPLES WITH HUGE MARGINS OF ERROR, AND PROBABLY NOT WORTHY OF BROADLY HELD MERIT FOR SCIENTIFIC THEORIES, BUT THEY DID MAKE AN IMPRESSION ON ME, AND AS IN ALL KNOWLEDGE I GAIN, IN LIFE, I TRY TO APPLY IT, AND TURN IT INTO WISDOM! MY KIDS WERE MY LAB RATS, AS WAS MY MARRIAGE, I SACRIFICED MY MARRIAGE TO THEIR FATHER, SEEING US AS VICTIMS OF FAMILY PATTERNS, DOING GENOCHARTS LEARNED FROM THE BOOK, INTIMATE PARTNERS IN LOVE & MARRIAGE, AND FOUND, WE WERE COOKIE CUTTER, REPLICAS OF GENERATIONS OF MALE AND FEMALE PATTERNS ON BOTH FAMILY SIDES . . . EITHER ONE OF THE PLUSES OF KNOWING YOUR GENEOLOGY, OR BETTER TO NOT KNOW, BUT, SO FAR, WISDOM HAS RULED, AND I ADORE MY FOUR CHILDREN, THEY SEEM EQUALLY MATCHED, AND I THINK, EVENTUALLY, THEY WILL HAVE GREAT MARRIAGES, FAMILIES, AND EVEN THEN, THEIR OWN CHILDREN, WILL PROBABLY SAY, THAT THE BEST DAY IN THEIR LIVES, WAS THE DAY, THEY WERE SET FREE FROM THEIR PARENTS INFLUENCE. LET THEM GO, SEE THEM GROW . . . CHECK OUT MY AMAZING DAUGHTER'S BOOK, BEAUTIFUL COVER, AND THOUGHTFUL INSIGHTS FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN . . . AND GREAT STOCKING STUFFERS! THANKS!