Defeat may serve as well as victory
To shake the soul and let the glory out.
When the great oak is straining in the wind,
The boughs drink in new beauty, and the trunk
Sends down a deeper root on the windward side.
Only the soul that knows the mighty grief
Can know the mighty rapture.
Sorrows come
To stretch out spaces in the heart
for joy!

-- Unknown

To those who have never loved, loving may appear to be entirely purposeless, but they miss that it is the only purpose.

My son to me (after I was telling him that he was not doing a good job of telling me to go to bed tonight): "I'm a child who believes independancy is a key lesson for parents to learn."

Love that boy