SPT

Lelly has thought of some wonderful challenges this month:

"in the U.S., we are in the charmed time of early summer, between Memorial Day and Independence Day. school is winding down. the pools are open. the grills are fired up. we linger longer in beds made up with crisp cottons. and freshly bathed children smile up at us with sun-kissed cheeks before dreaming of strawberries and picnics and fireflies. it is a magical time of year. we have the chance to honor our history during this time of year. to remember how our nation came to be. to remember those who have lived and died to protect the things we hold most dear. no matter what country you call home, there is opportunity here to celebrate every homeland. every nation. i hope you will recognize these challenges - they are all borrowed from patriotic songs. and there is so much room for creativity within these lyrics."

• June 3rd the emblem of the land I love

• June 10th the twilight's last gleaming

• June 17th my home sweet home

• June 24th stars and/or stripes forever

Here is our twilight:

We took the kiddos to the neighborhood park with some glow sticks and let them go wild.

But right now there is a different type of twilight that has been on my mind.

My Dad has been in the hospital. He was having chest pains last week and they put in the hospital and put a stent in his heart. After the procedure he started bleeding internally. This is not his first stent and this isn't the first time that he has had complications after having a stent put in. There are so many different things that he is dealing with. He has a blood clot in his heart that the doctors are trying to dissolve by keeping him on blood thinners. Also a small piece of the clot broke off and he had a small stroke Sunday night and he still doesn't have all the strength and control back in his left hand. Also because of the blood thinners he is still bleeding internally and it is pooling in his left leg and hip and causing a tremendous amount of pain. He has lost enough blood that today he had to have a blood transfusion. And even after they have all the blood issues taken care of and he is stabilized enough they are putting a defibrillator in him. And through it all he has been in amazingly good spirits. In July he will turn 67, so he isn't really old. But I see him getting weak and I see his body wearing out and it makes me sad.

Here I am bugging him late at night when he should have been sleeping. I told him I was going to put this picture on the internet for the whole world to see and he was worried about what his hair looked like -- now I know where I get it! That might be the only thing we have in common. We have butted heads over just about everything, but I know that he is always there for me and he loves me. But really -- this goofing off in the hospital has got to stop!