Something the Lord Made

I miss my son. I know that is selfish and silly, as he will be very happy at school. But I still miss him anyway. Hopefully this will get better in a couple of days; perhaps home schooling the younger son will keep me busy enough to keep my mind and heart off of this. And that will start on our district's first day of school - next Wednesday. I had taken the books down to Muncie with me, but we were so busy I only had a chance to read a few more chapters of The Iliad. I will have to spend a good portion of the day working on this tomorrow.

I did take the time to watch a movie tonight - from HBO called Something the Lord Made. It is set in the segregated South over a period of decades. It featured Alan Rickman as Dr. Alfred Blalock, a surgeon who has the ability to think outside the box, and Mos Def as a brilliant young African American named Vivien Thomas, who helps him with his lab work. In a world filled with racism and poverty, the genius of Vivien Thomas was never able to advance further than high school. Yet somehow these two men formed a partnership which made huge medical breakthroughs in the treatment of shock, and they pioneered cardiac surgery. The performances were brilliant, the settings and script were excellent. And the movie shows how institutional racism holds back recognition and opportunity for the individual and also robs society as a whole from the contributions of those held down. Very powerful, finely made film.

I miss my son!