Annual Barnes & Noble Trip With Mom

At least once a year I take a trip to Barnes & Noble with mom when she comes in town. Recently we went through a stack of books see if we might read one or two together.

The Reject Pile

After agonizing and debating heavily over this pile, we narrow it down to two (both are pictured just barely in the background): Command and Control, and The Bully Pulpit. The later has been on my list for quite some time as I've read a number of books on Theodore Roosevelt and am extremely fond of him and books about him. Command Control looked fascinating and indeed was very interesting to read. 

It weaves together two stories lines in alternating chapters. One is the recounting of a missile silo accident that occurred in central Arkansas about an hour north of Little Rock. This occurred in 1980 back in the days when nuclear missile silos were scattered all over Arkansas and Missouri. One of these silos in the small town of Damascus had a fuel leak, which lead to the missile (i.e. the fuel stored in it) exploding, though the warhead stayed in tact and did not detonate. The other part of the book recounts the wide variety of near misses in the nuclear weapon weapons program. After reading this book, it really is astonishing that we have not had a major catastrophe from an accidental nuclear detonation somewhere in the world. Yes, it was a very interesting read, one my 9-year-old son even took interest in, reading the first 70 or 80 pages, and especially interesting to myself since I reside in Little Rock. One of my coworkers actually remembers feeling the explosion from over 20 miles away.

So my mother and I have enjoyed reading and discussing and trading good books back and forth over the years. I made a list the other day of all the books she has purchased for us and that we have read together and the total was nearly 30 different books. I confess that I have not read all of them yet, nor has she, but we are both working through the list and enjoying reading them and discussing them and having the time together.

Incidentally, if you want to see what books I'm reading and have interest in sharing the books you're reading, check out my Shelfari profile on the right side of this blog. I try to keep this list up to date and in order of priority (i.e. most active reads at the front of the list). Set up your own profile and I'll follow you.

And so I end this post with a short tribute to my mother that I delivered during the front end of the sermon at our church on Mother's Day. This is obviously a short tribute because it was done on the front end of the sermon and it's not as thorough as one might give to their mother, but I'd like to include here just as an encouragement to my mom. I love you mom!

Tribute to Mom

Thank you for believing in me. For being my greatest cheerleader.

Thank you for pushing back on me. When I tried to bowl you over.

And thanks for not giving up on me when I did stupid things.

Thanks for sharing your love of literature and English. And for all the books we continue to read and discuss together.

Thanks for texting me photos of public mis-punctuation. And for helping to eradicate apostrophe abuses (and yes, I said that without using an apostrophe).

Thank you for loving Dad and singing his praises. You made me want to be more like him. And you made me long for a wife that would speak of me that way to our kids.

Thank you for loving my wife. Not just loving her, but admiring her.

Speaking highly of her.

And for loving my kids.

On a lighter note: Thanks for not getting mad when the door fell off your car. 

I'm still not sure what happened.

And (I can’t believe I’m going to say this), thank you for making me mow the yard.

But finally – and most importantly, Thank you for praying for me so faithfully and for continuing to do so. I really don’t know what my life would be like without your prayers.

I love you mom and I’m grateful for you. I’m glad you are my mom.