Soggy Northeast

I got a phone call yesterday from one of my best friend's mom. I went to school with Wendy since 7th grade, and we have celebrated each other's weddings, (2 for each of us) consoled one another through divorces,(1)and helped one another through death, as both of our father's have passed on. Her brother Gary, is back in the hospital from a reoccurance of his cancer. This is his third bout fighting this disease.

It was difficult to call her mom and talk to her. I am still raw from the past six months of emotional upheaval in many areas of my life from the threat of losing one's child. Yet we could now actually understand one another's pain, and talk about it. Erna has been in the hospital herself three times in the past six months and has many medical problems. She is doing all she can do to try and keep herself together through all of this. I kept strong as she needed that.

I still need to call Gary, and that is another difficult call I will have to make. He has been in the hospital for two weeks now and starts radiation tomorrow. Please keep Gary in your prayers and meditations.

Megan was pretty sick a few days this week, actually so sick that her boyfriend stayed home from work to take care of her. She is lucky to have him. So many might have fled.

I had Alanna a few times last week. She is becoming quite the active and intense 2 year old. I have to let her go through her fits, and am very good at being able to make a crying face smile by changing the topic at hand that has precipitated the meltdown. As long as she is not overtired, she is pretty good.

In the next day or two I am going to be posting a few websites I would like you to visit, and places where you can make donations for LMS research etc. I have done so much reading about this, and due to the cutbacks in the government funding for cancer research, much of the money has to be raised privately. I will post more on that soon. (thanks to Mr. Bush and Iraq, our money is going elsewhere)

I hope you are warm and dry; as we speak my studio is flooding and there is nothing I can do. Larry is seeking out a wet/vac to see if there is any hope of diverting what might be a major problem.

Patti

PS In a humvee in Iraq, a photo taken of Megan holding a picture of me in her hand. She carried that polaroid in her helmet all through the war. When she told me that I broke down and cried. It still makes me cry if I think about it too much.