What a gorgeous day! This is the first really sunny, warm day that we've spent in our new home. The sun shines in and our little patch of the woods is beautiful. Marcia went out for a short walk this morning and this afternoon Bill took his portable oxygen tank for a walk to the mailbox. He actually sat at his desk for a while this afternoon, too. While we both are still napping and pretty worn out it feels like our new "normal" is a little more like our old "normal"! (This is true if taking morning, afternoon and evening naps is normal!) Marcia will be most happy when the ace bandage wraps come off so that she can breathe again, sleep without sititing up and take a real shower.

One thing this is teaching us (and you know this is not a strength for either of us) is patience. The recuperation is not occuring at the speed of light which we would normally demand. It takes it's own sweet time. And, we still have several weeks before we get a final diagnosis/treatment plan for each of us so we will get plenty of "patience" practice. We are also appreciating the little things - the ability to get the bed made, keep up with the laundry, and keep the house picked up and begin again to keep up (via phone and email) with our work. It's difficult for us not to have the level of "focus" that we usually do.

One of the things that all of this has reinforced is the importance of our relationship with each other and with our family, friends and colleagues. Time is precious and we value more each day our good fortune to have all of you on our side in persevering through tough times. Our simple thanks can only begin to say how grateful we are to all of you. Thank you.