For me, December 7, 2004 will always live in infamy, to paraphrase FDR.
December 7, 2004 is the date that my beloved Valerie Lynne Monroe died. She was an extraordinary woman and the love of my life. While she was alive, we had to be relatively clandestine about our relationship for a variety of reasons.
Valerie left me with a number of obligations to fulfill her dreams and aspirations to make the world a better place. She also left me obligations towards her god-children, one of whom is Hassan.
In the picture, Hassan is little, but he’s actually never really been “little.” He was so strong as an infant in his mother’s arms, he reached out and pulled the door off a microwave oven. He’s now over 5′ tall (age ten) and takes size 9 shoes. He’s in pilot training already and I’m very proud of him.
