Auf Wiedersehen...

A whole lot has been going on... in fact, too much for me to tackle here at work. But I'll tell you what, since I've been a bit remiss in writing, let me tell you what I have today and then, tomorrow, I'll tell you about this past week. Okay?

Okay.

As busy as I've been, things have been going pretty crazy for my brother, Keith. When we started talking again one year ago, he was working at South Coast Plaza as a security guard, he didn't have a car, and he was renting a room in this dump of a house. One year is an awfully short amount of time in the grand scheme of things and, so, look at how things have changed in that short year. He moved on from South Coast and became the head of security at a firm in Fountain Valley. He'd bought a car. He was a lot more confident and things seemed to be falling into place.

That was until this past weekend. It was then that we saw again how fragile life is and how quickly everything can be pulled out from under us.

He was evicted from the dump of a house from which he rented and lost his job.

The immediate impulse for us La Celles is to take the safe road. The perilous road looks so perilous and the road not taken exists for precisely that reason! We La Celles aren't trail blazers because we learned from our forebears the hazards that exist in playing with fire. We would be glorious failures except for our tendency to minimize our risks. We can't aim very high without getting vertigo...

I mention this because it was with some surprise that Keith notified me that he wouldn't be looking for another job, not here in California. He's leaving the state and finding his fortune elsewhere. He'll start in Las Vegas and see where that leads.

Keith and I have a rather bizarre background. For the longest time we couldn't stand each other. Then, when we did start talking, I ended up feeling like the big brother, sometimes - though it's actually the other way around. I have to say, though, that Keith has really taken me by surprise this time.

He's made a bold decision. He's being brave and for that I must applaud him. Good for you, Keith. I hope this venture bears heavy fruit. You never know what risks or rewards lie over yonder, but I'm very proud of you for going.