Bob Greene's Quiet Comeback

I was a big fan of Bob Greene's before his fall 10 years ago but I'm glad to see he's quietly making a comeback.  (No, not Oprah's Bob Greene; this Bob Greene.)

Bob Greene thinks a lot these days about the colleagues he has lost — and probably about the career he lost, too.

Ten years ago this week, Greene’s public life crashed and burned on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. Readers awoke that Sunday morning in mid-September to the news that he’d been fired after more than three decades as one of the best known and most widely read columnists in America.

A spectacular ride that had taken a kid from Bexley, Ohio, to a starring role at the Sun-Times by age 23, then to the Tribune and syndication in more than 200 newspapers, was suddenly and completely over.

Greene had been fired, according to the Tribune’s version of events, because he had abused his position by engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a girl he met when she came to interview him for her high school newspaper. 

I first came across Greene's columns in the pages of Esquire in the '80s.  I greatly enjoyed his collections of columns from that magazine and his work on the Tribune.  Up to his time of his dismissal, he was a tireless advocate for abused children and his series on the Baby Richard case touched me deeply as an adoptive parent.  I hungrily re-read his Good Morning, Merry Sunshine in those heady first weeks of Rachel's infancy and so his writing remains a part of that very special time.

No doubt, Greene's actions were a serious breech of ethics and terrible lapse of judgement but count me as one of those who thought his punishment was too harsh.  Certainly some kind of reprimand was in order, a lengthy suspension as well would have been called for, but his body of work up to that point was evidence enough that this may have been an isolated occurrence.  Add the fact that his wife passed away four months after his dismissal - her death likely had more to do with her month-long respiratory illness than Greene's crash-and-burn but that probably didn't help - and you're looking at a man who more than paid the price for his transgression.

Since then he's managed to publish four books and now writes a weekly column at CNN.  I guess you'd call it a comeback if you could call 10 years in the wilderness "looking for stories and trying to do the best job I can reporting and writing them" a comeback.  Call it redemption through work.  I guess that's all you can do, the best you can do, and that's enough.  It certainly seems to be the case for Bob Greene.

Kristin Chenoweth: Pro Adoption

A pro-adoption message from Oklahoman and perky entertainer Kristin Chenoweth:

“I was in shock when I heard that there are 123,000 kids that are in the foster care system in our country. I really want to drive the point home that even if you don’t think that you have tons of money, and all these other ‘things’ to give a child, all a child really needs is love, care and a mentor. Someone to listen to them and to be there,” Chenoweth said. “You don’t have to be a wealthy person – you can be wealthy in your spirit. These kids just want to be loved, and that’s what really touches my heart.”

Chenoweth speaks from experience, and credits two special people for her ongoing success.

“It always goes back to my parents who adopted me, who gave me unconditional love and self-esteem,” Chenoweth said. “I don’t think I’d be where I am without them.”

It Was 18 Years Ago Today

No, Sergeant Pepper didn't teach the band to play. It was when Rachel was born!

She wouldn't like it if I got all gooey and sentimental about it so I won't but I can't let the day pass without marking it in some way. She was born today and we got the news we would be her parents not 24 hours later. A bit of jaundice had to be cleared up before we could take her home from the Stillwater hospital a couple of days later but by then our lives had been irrevocably altered. The days have been blessed ever since.

Rachel's turning into quite a young lady. She's having to make some big decisions now that'll affect life in the years ahead, just like a grownup. That's the way it's supposed to be but I can't help but think back on those early, heady days with her. They're always your baby, aren't they, no matter how old they are?

How will we celebrate? You can be sure she's been working us over pretty good for the last few weeks, allowing us to consider some major clothing purchases as her birthday present. Of course, we've lost count of what we've bought her and what we've still to get her - you don't think that's part of her plan, do you? - but we'll be doing a special dinner for her tonight.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got something in my eye.

Sniff.

(More here on the girls' adoption and the part the rest of our family has played in all of this. Our blessings are endless.)

Jim Caviezel: How Being a Dad has Changed his Life

In an interview, Caviezel reveals his feelings about his children:

You and your wife Kerri have become adoptive parents to an orphaned boy, Bo, and girl, LeLe, from China. How has becoming a father affected you and your faith?

I don’t even know who I was before (laughs). Dennis Quaid told me a long time ago when he had his son Jack, 'You’ll have emotions in you that you didn’t even know existed before you had a child.' I now know what that feels like. Even though they’re adopted, it’s as strong as any instinct. That’s what blew me away. I always thought if I adopted that I wouldn’t have the same feeling [as I would] if they were genetically my own children. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Exactly. Clara and I often say about the girls that the fact their adopted both never enters our mind and is constantly there. We couldn't love them any more or differently if they were ours biologically and we thank their birthmothers every day for their loving decision to entrust us with the daughters' care. And it helps, immensely, that the rest of the family - grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins - all feel the same way. We're living proof of God's boundless love.