Family

Sunday was a special day...our great nephew Michael was baptized. He was so good during the entire church service, never fussing at all. He looked up at the minister during the actual baptism and just had a look on his face that said something along the line of, "Am I supposed to be listening to you? Are you saying something important? Oh well...let me know when you're finished." Kelly and Neal, the parents, looked so happy too. As I watched Kelly during that part of the service, I couldn't help but go back in time to when she was a toddler, crying about bugs, sucking on her finger, or reading a book. She still looks exactly the same....only maybe a little more fulfilled. Motherhood can do that to you.

After the baptism, there was a party at Tim and Patty's. They have more room than Peg and Mac, the grandparents, so it was held down here at the compound. As I watched Neal's mom and dad, it was so easy to see how smitten they are with little Michael. He has brought so much joy into everyone's lives. What a wonderful way to begin the next generation!

After we left the party, we went to see my dad for Father's Day. He is the MOST difficult person in the world to get a gift for. What do you get for the man who has everything??? I had asked mom and she suggested the cigars that he smokes while on vacation. THANK YOU MOM. I know it's not much, but if it's something that he'll use, then I'm all for it. While we were there, he asked me to check something on his computer, hoping I could fix it. It's not a major thing, but it's also not something I was successful at fixing. I felt bad about that, but I'm still thinking of ways to make it right. Although I know a little bit more about computers than mom and dad, I'm still no expert, by any means!

I know that certain days have been tough on Ted since his dad passed away 3 years ago, and Father's Day is one of them. However, he thinks the world of my dad, so that makes it a little easier to handle. I'm so lucky....and I realize that.

Yesterday our sister-in-law Patty, Tim's wife, underwent surgery to remove a small tumor in the upper part of her rectum. She's been going to various doctors and having testing done since it was discovered during her colonoscopy a month ago, and the time finally came to get it out. Our surgeon (yes, she also sees the great and wonderful Dr. P!) is leaving for a THREE week vacation on Friday, so she wanted it all taken care of before that. Unfortunately it was a little more involved than we first thought it would be. She'll be in the hospital for several days and was cut up from above her belly button all the way down, if you know what I mean. Dr. P said it went well and he got everything he needed to get, but it was pretty invasive surgery. We were there last night and when she got out of recovery we saw her for a few minutes. She looked like she'd been through the ringer. Hopefully she got some sleep last night and I'll be leaving to go see her in just a little while.

Dr. P gave up his surgical privileges at our bigger hospital in the county last month. The word is that he was tired of their "political B.S." and is now strictly doing surgery at the small hospital about 8 miles down the road. I know that Mayberry didn't have a hospital, but if it did, it would look just like TC Hospital, I'm sure! The hospital itself is small, the rooms are small, the departments are small, but the staff is absolutely wonderful! The hospital is in the early stages of undergoing an expansion, so hopefully it will be around for a long time. Several years ago, it was in jeopardy of closing, but has been bouncing back and is doing much better now. I had my colonoscopy there a few weeks ago and it went very well.

My parents stopped by this morning to drop off their old car for Alex. We are ALL so appreciative of this! Alex will be taking his drivers test very soon and the car will come in extremely handy. When he goes back to school in the fall, he will not have any bus service since our latest school levy didn't pass, so this will be his transportation! It will also help as far as taking him to and picking him up from work during the rest of the summer.

Family is SO important...and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful one!