No Time Out

I just noticed that my last entry was made early in January 2007. I wasn't that busy last year - so what can I say except my priorities must have been a bit out of kilter. A thought-provoking conversation with an old friend of more than 20 years and the death a week ago of another friend of 30+ years made me realize, not for the first time, that all that matters in life is our connections to each other - and more and more I'm beginning to believe that blogging may be a serious way to both build and rebuild connections.

In any case I'm going to spend more time with this blog even if I'm the only one who reads it. Here's why: That's Tucker in the photo on the left. My wife and I operate a small company specializing in vintage photos of children in day care centers http://www.united-portrait-studios.com. I met Tucker at a day care in Mississippi last fall. We were selling photos in a room near Tucker's classroom and in the two afternoons were there I must have heard his name called two dozen times. It was always followed by, "You're in time out."

If you aren't familiar with the term, "time out," as it relates to kids Tucker's age, it means, you are removed from the group and put in "isolation" - in the case of Tucker's day care it means you have to sit down with your back to the wall and you must remain there, silently, until your teacher allows you to rejoin your classmates.

The second day we were there I overheard Tucker's grandmother talking to him when she picked him up. She asked, "Tucker, did you get put in time out today?" Without hesitation, remorse, or apology, he answered simply, "Yes."

As near as I could see, Tucker isn't a troublemaker, at least not in the conventional sense of the word. He has determined at his young age that he has no use for the conventions of this world and that includes the people he has to deal with. He isn't angry, nor is he trying to make a statement, defend a position, or force anyone to give in to him. He is totally detached from all of that. I love Tucker but I don't envy him because in 65 years I've come to know that the only thing that matters in life is our connection to our fellow human beings - not in some commerical or even social way but at a heart level.

Bert 3 AM Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.

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