August 14th, mid month already. Today would have been my mother’s 107th birthday. That’s a long time. She’s been gone since 2015. My dad died in 1996 I think. (Is it bad that I don’t know for sure?) This year he would have celebrated his 110th birthday. 

I have good thoughts and sad thoughts to share this morning. Let’s get the sad out of the way. Julie nd Jim are having to put one of their two dogs to sleep this morning. It just suddenly got very sick and they found out that it has a large tumor on its liver that is bleeding into it’s stomach. It was the younger of the two dogs and was “Jim’s dog”. It was a real sweetheart. I feel so sorry for the kids. They have been preparing themselves to put the older dog down because of his health but in no way were they thinking analyzing like this. 

Other sad news today is that our house cleaner had to take their son back to the ICU and he is on a ventilator. The son is I think 21 years old and is an invalid. He only weighs like 70 pounds and they have to literally do everything for him. Kari, his mom, is such a lovely person and we have become very good friends. Please keep the family in your prayers. 

Now for better news. Ms. Kate is doing wonderfully well. Her BP and heart rate seems to be under control. She is getting her energy back and has started making Christmas cards again. Today we have two follow-up appointments; one with her urologist and one with her cardiologist. But, it is is wonderful to see her up and moving around and looking and feeling “chipper” again. It’s like having the old Ms. Kate back again. 

Another happy news is that I have put together a Heumann cousin’s reunion. They all live over in southern Illinois. My sister lives up in the Springfield Illinois area and of course Ms. Kate and I live here in southern Indiana. But, although it is on a couple of hours drive over to see the cousins, we just never do. So, I told them we need to do this before we meet at the funeral home again. We did this maybe five years ago and since then we have lost my one remaining uncle, his wife, and their son and another cousin. I’m in contact with a couple of them via Facebook but that is all. So on September 22nd we’ll meet at Giant City State Park for lunch at the lodge and sit around and eat fried chicken and gab for awhile. I’m really excited about it. 

That’s it for today. I hope your day is full of joy and love. Peace.