Sam went on a trip with his grandparents for a few days last week.

Owen was devastated.

Well, he was Owen-style-devastated, which is actually rather mild.

His teacher asked him how he was doing without Sam around:

"I am sad," Owen replied.

"Really? You don't look sad."

"Wewl," he shrugged, "I am," and wandered off to play.

That's the difference between Owen and Sam. Sam tends to spend his life at the endpoints of the continuum. On any given day/hour he can vacillate wildly between one and ten, spending only as much time in the 4-5-6's as numerically necessary to get to the opposite extreme.

Owen, on the other hand, gives new meaning to "restriction of range."

I was despairing the other day about Sam and the wild ride that is his emotional life. I was wondering how to "fix" it. But then it occurred to me that for some people, the 1's and 2's are worth it because they get to have the 9's and 10's. I was watching some home videos recently and marveling at Sam's capacity for JOY. It's really unlike the way I live my life, which, like Owen, is pretty solidly middle of the road, emotionally speaking.

And who am I to say one is better than the other?

I feel frustrated sometimes because it seems to me like he is making his life harder than it has to be.

But maybe someday he will pity me because I don't get to feel the same kind of euphoria he does when it turns out we DO have chocolate pudding!!!!!!!!!!!!