Friday evening - gradually better again!!

Dear Family and Friends,

Its about 8 pm here in Concord at the Hilton, I mean hospital. Nan has had a good day overall and seems to be helped by the Regalan. Today has been broth, jello in three different colors, hot tea, flavored ice in a cup. She is ready for a bit more, so I slipped in a piece of the best banana bread we've had in a very long time and she loved it, hid it under her covers and ate it in tiny bites. The banana bread is compliments of Sylvia Ahn and it is really good, small pieces might be available in Nan's room tomorrow afternoon for visitors!!

I drove the motorhome over tonight, I thought about the fuel and then decided that it was worth it to be right here in the parking lot all weekend instead of many trips back and forth home at late and early hours of the day. While Nan was having her delicious (not) dinner I went to the motorhome and found a few things to consume. Then I realized that so far today I have not blogged so I raced back to her room to take care of that oversight.

We met a man today that serves as the discharge nurse and he has arranged for us to learn how to give IV fluids at home. We appreciate that a lot and look forward to being able to help her keep hydrated. It seems that the slow stomach and slow intestines are conditions we are going to have to live with for awhile until they wake up fully and get up to speed. We were warned that after a big surgery and a long recovery that progress is in fits and starts as one doctor explained it.

On my way here today I visited a property in Brentwood, then 3 in Concord, all with the motorhome which is always interesting to navigate around small courts, narrow streets and such. It all worked out fine and the motorhome is a perfect fit taking just two parking spaces and with room for the expanded part over a flower bed. The last home I inspected had lovely people as owners. They have owned the house for 46 years, since it was new, raised 12 children, 5 of their own and 7 adopted ones from around the world. Pretty amazing stories they shared with me. They gave Nan a couple books they have written and really made my day, great, solid people with a lovely property and a great outlook on life. The property just before that was owned by a young Muslim lady who was totally nice and so gracious. Cute place, cute back yard, very homey and lots of love could be felt there.

I am convinced that in this old world of ours there are many spots of light, gentle people with principles and convictions, generous and caring. We have met them on the T train in Boston, in the elevators of the hospital, in the ICU, at the front desk of the hotels, on the plane, in the limo, at home, at work, on the internet, on the phone. I know God is alive in so many people's lives and really that makes the future worth moving into. I am convinced that we don't begin to ask God for nearly enough of the blessings He has to share, that God loves us deeply and that He has a plan we would launch ourselves into if we could begin to see and understand it. Our lives have been reduced to living pretty much one day at a time for the last 3 months yet they have been months with many joyous moments, many obvious miracles, many setbacks, many touches of the divine. As the Sabbath hours surround us here in this room, 3117, we are grateful for the many blessings of life. We are thankful for a Heavenly Father that gets involved in lives and demonstrates His creative energy every day.

We have heard from Glen Connor, our dear friend from Lodi. He and Joyce may come visit tomorrow and we look forward to seeing them. Nan has a private room with lots of room for visitors but only two chairs so you might want to consider a folding chair if you decide to visit. Normal hospital rules apply, if the patient begins to fade, let her sleep.

We send our love tonight and appreciate the good work of the nurses and doctors here at the hospital. We also appreciate the help from LeAnn our neighbor, from Emily who cooked, ironed, sorted and cooked again, flushed Nan's PICC lines, changed her dressing. We appreciate Mary from Travel who comes and visits bringing Nan her sunshine and love plus watermelon. We appreciate Sylvia who not only came for a day of helping, feeding, cleaning but showed up at our door again this morning to do more cleaning, how can we ever begin to thank our friends for their demonstrations of love and caring. Then there is Loree who seems to be everywhere, bank, paying bills, making appointments, working phones, doing the books, feeding dogs, feeding fish..... we appreciate her very much.

Yesterday Nate was extremely helpful and helped with inspections and was a great driver and made the day possible for us as we drove about 200 miles in all. I enjoy having Nate along, he has lived a colorful life, is a very interesting guy and we just happen to like to help each other.

Tonight Nan is going to sleep great, in fact she has fallen asleep already and we still have a walk to get in. Thanks for your great help on all fronts this week. Please pray that God will continue to touch Nan in all the places she needs help.

With love

tim and nan