Q is for Question

It seems only natural that Q would stand for questions in our house. I briefly thought about trying to keep a running total of the number of questions I answer in a single day. I then realized that I would never be able keep track of it and count that much (or that high). Lauren asks the standard little-kid "why" questions and even takes it a step further by asking,  "Why don't you know?" Basically, she asks questions from the time she climbs out of bed until well after I tuck her into bed at night.

For our family, however, one particular question will always stand out in our minds. It wasn't a question Lauren asked, but rather a question about Lauren -- a question dating back to her days in the NICU.

When we were living near Washington DC, Tim used his lengthy commute to study for the classes he was taking as part of his professional military education. Since it was a military program, he spent a lot of time thinking about strategic planning, being a military commander, etc.

Sometimes all of his reading and critical thinking spilled over into his day-to-day life. When given the chance to ask questions when Lauren was teeny-tiny and very sick, he responded, "How do we define success over the next to twelve to twenty-four hours?"

I have no idea what sort of answer he got that day, but I'm sure all the NICU residents were warned to expect that question in the future.

As for success -- I think Lauren wrote her own answer. It just took a bit more than twenty-four hours to figure it out.

I'm sharing a "years ago" story corresponding to each letter of the alphabet for the Blogging through the Alphabet challenge hosted by Marcy at Ben and Me. I often tell my children stories of things that have happened in our past, and now I'm taking the time to write down those treasured stories.

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