"My Dad is slowly getting better"

Dearest and Coolest BraveHearts,

Thank you again for all the love and concern you gave me and continue to give me as my Dad gets well. They told us he probably wouldn't make it, but he's still here

I had to leave his side and come back to Door County WI for work. I was afraid to leave him. I felt that somehow if I never left his side nothing bad would happen. We all know I can't control that, but I know it was helping him to have all of us girls around. We camped out.....he kept saying, "thanks for stopping by" as if we stopped over for dinner. We got a laugh out of that one when he was in the hospital and kind of out of it. We told him, "don't worry about us, we're all together and having fun" and we did. I have missed my sisters a ton since returning to work.

I told my Dad I would see him after the season is over here and I believe that I will. The doctors told us that he is not progressing as fast as they would like and he cannot do cardiac rehab yet. They haven't been able to give him a stress test to qualify. He is supposed to walk a little a couple times a day. He is doing that pretty well. He started out making it to the corner, but now he makes it further. He may be moving slow, but he is steadily getting better.

They told us that his depression is normal. Sometimes he just stares into space. It is difficult to get him to talk about his feelings. We try. He does not have the same spark...and it worries us. It is very painful to watch. Every now and then, we see a glimpse of the man before the heart attack and it gives us hope. We kind of overlook and detach from his crabbiness, which we rarely saw before. He might get really mad occassionally, but he would never be in an overall crabby state. He doesnt joke like he used to....however I was able to crack him up on the phone the other day.

I look forward to seeing all of you at RISE. He was asking me about it. I told him all about you and how you thought good thoughts...and prayed...and saw him well. I told him how much your love helped me during that time. He said, "that's nice honey". And he's right, it is!!

Much Love

Debra
The Honor Your Truth Community