Hard to share

Hey kids-kadoo, this was an April Fools post. Seriously, before you even look at the title or the content, look at the date. Or read the comments. Or the tags. It's your call, but if you can't do any of that, call -->ME<-- and ask.

There are a lot of really good things going on in my life right now. And with those really good things must come the occasional really hard decision.

A few months ago, shortly after qualifying for my 1A race license [this only exists in Gran Turismo 4, a PlayStation 2 game], I was approached by a Mazda factory rep. The guy had seen some of my in-car footage and at come out to watch me at two events (didn't know it at the time), and was interested in recruiting me do drive for the company. [seriously? Racers work their WHOLE CAREER for this kind of opportunity. I've been driving less than 5 years, and only done 12 events.]

Unfortunately everything had to be very quiet until all the contract details were worked out, but starting in June I will officially be a Mazda driver. With that, however, comes a series of multi-month training trips that will have me all over the globe for the next 3 years or so, competing in various international racing venues as I go. [this is all complete bullshit]

It's exciting, and it's really what I've always dreamed of doing.

But what about Alastair?

It's been no secret that we've had some exceptionally rough patches, even before Amanda died. The "Special School", some physical roughness that I can't seem to shake, and with less than 18 months to prepare, I've still not even budged on picking a school for him. To the backdrop of all this I need to add the potential of a custody battle [this part comes straight from the book The Art of Racing in the Rain--you should read it]--let's just say that our impasses haven't gone unnoticed.

So when I said before that 2010 was going to be his year, I meant it: he's going to get a better daddy. The last couple of months have been such hard work, and hopefully the good times we've had will be firmly cemented in his memory, but the fact is that I cannot provide the level of care and attention that he so desperately needs. And for that reason, shortly after his birthday I contacted an adoption agency. Tomorrow we meet the potential new family.

It's the hardest decision I've ever faced, but I have no doubt that it's the best choice for him. [ok, for real now. If you've read this far and are still clutching your pearls, I can't help you.]