I don’t know how to lead into this smoothly, so I’ll just get to the bare facts.
This Thursday, my wife of 20 years will be going into the hospital for surgery. Unfortunately, it will not be the kind of operation which will permit her a brief hospital stay. Even after she comes home, I will be busy doing my best to care for her. As for the nature of her condition, I’d prefer to keep that private. I only mention it at all, to explain why my time here will be limited over the next several weeks.
Just to be clear, I’m not leaving Booman Tribune. This isn’t a goodbye, but hopefully only a brief (and partial) hiatus. If all goes well, I hope to be posting here intermittently, when my other responsibilities permit. However, I thought it only appropriate to let people know in advance of my expected absence.
I know BooMan is working hard on finding additional front page posters who will bring their own talent and a fresh perspective to the front page. I hope that whomever he finds receives as warm a welcome as I have from this wonderful community. In the meantime, please bear with BooMan and the others who post to the front page (Chris, Albert, Geov Parrish, Howie, Larry Johnson, jpol and our friends from European Tribune, Jerome and Colman), as their burden will increase, as my role diminishes over the next month or so.
I would also like to say that the true strength of this site is this community’s diarists, readers and commenters who participate in our discussions here. My absence will have no effect on that continuing dialogue. I am always amazed at how many insightful and talented people have chosen to post here, as the quality of the diaries, and the comment threads they generate, attest.
I will be checking in and reading your diaries even when I don’t have time to post myself, and I encourage any new readers and lurkers here to take the time to check out those discussions. I think you will soon find that it isn’t the front page that drives debate at Booman Tribune, but the community of activists and politically aware individuals that share their thoughts, visions and passions here everyday.
Thank you all.
Steven D
