May 20, 2005

Grandparents, bracelets more....

My grandmother had a stroke yesterday. She's 99 years old, lives in a home but is still very alert, of a sound mind and delightful to visit. Apparently it wasn't too severe, she was awake and talking to my dad yesterday afternoon. She was much better by today, awake, up and dressed, eating, etc. We only get to see her 3-4 times a year when we go to St. Louis. She is my last surviving grandparent.

If you to describe a grandparent as faith-filled, kind, loving, giving, gentle etc., then that would be perfect for her. She has had a heck of life! She visited King Tut's tomb in the early 1900's on a trip that included a steamer across the Atlantic, she lived through the Depression, raised two wonderful sons, lost her husband over 35 years ago to cancer and then traveled extensively for several years. One of my favorite stories she tell is when she was about 10 years old and her best friend and her crept into the Catholic church and put a kitten in the Baptismal font! If you ever met her, you'd never believe she was involved in such a thing. I blame it all on the friend! She's quite a lady. I'm not ready to say "I miss her", I pray she hangs on until after November 11th, we plan to celebrate 100 years with her!
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Bracelet Update: We have sold over 800 bracelets to date and raised almost $2,500. Part of the money paid for the application fees for the IRS 501.c.3 designation, some shipping charges and web hosting for the soon to be launched website. We have also placed a re-order for 1,000 more bracelets. At some point next week Mary and I will either decide how much the initial donation to the Prostate Cancer Foundation will be or we will wait until the foundation board meets for the first time. Everything will be fully disclosed at www.flhw.org by early June.
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Other quick notes:
> Cardinals vs. Royals this weekend, go Redbirds, I'm predicting a sweep. We'll be there tonight.
> 1st camping trip of the year tomorrow (weather permitting).
> First week of work in the bag, really liking it and getting back in the flow.

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