Hi everybody!!

Dear family and friends,

This week has gone by so quickly I can't believe it! I think I sleptwalked? through most of it though, as Bob was awake about every 2-3 hrs. and me with him. I've been sleeping the sleep of new mother's...where you hear every little peep. What's a little worrisome is the absence of siderails on the bottom half of the bed, and Bob likes to sit on the edge to fiddle with his cd's or kindle if he wakes up. Anyway, I think we finally have the right combo of meds. and last night he only woke up around 4am and we did a little repositioning etc. and we both fell back to sleep til 8am. It was bliss. I actually felt human today. Got all the wash done, made a big batch of applesauce, changed some sheets, washed some floors and was about to make a pot of potato-leek soup when our dear friend called to say she was bringing us her famous, homemade biscotti(anise) and pasta fagiole. So that was dinner done! I would say we ate like kings, but as Bob says, that's Italian peasant food, something that his Mom had to be coaxed into making, since she was always astonished at how much her family liked it.

And speaking of food, I've really been remiss with my thank-yous in that department. I have barely had to cook at all the past 2 weeks. I think I mentioned the beef stew that my cousins John and Connie sent over, 3 batches in fact. In addition, we also were treated to takeout from Red Lobster by our good pal, Jean R., who also brought back lobster mac n' cheese and NE clam chowdah from Cape May's Lobster House on another night. Brother and sis, Bill and Ann visited last week and served up meatball & provolone grinders, Italian wedding soup and Ital. hoagies. Carolyn and Jim S. stopped by for a visit and brought us homemade chicken soup, with the big fat noodles Bob loves and one of his favorite desserts, pineapple upside down cake...ooh, it was good. This past Monday our buddy Holly S. brought 2 pans of her world-famous(I'm not kidding) homemade mac and cheese...it's the best!Then on Tuesday, cousins Rick and Joan C. made a Carlino's run for Bob and brought him an antipasto platter(his request), and lots of juices and baked goodies too. You can see why the stairs are getting harder to climb...pretty soon I'll be using the stair chair! Oh and Megan brought lasagna that is still in the freezer and a platter of Italian baked goods. And my brother brought us roaster chickens and danish and all kinds of stuff. So thank you, thank you one and all. I hope I'm not forgetting anyone.

Now, while we're on the subject of thank you's I want to say how grateful I am to everyone who responded to my request for helpers to be with Bob while I am at work. When we first went onto hospice, I thought that wouldn't be neccessary afterall, due to the gravity of Bob's condition. However, now that he's improved since those first few days, I think I'll be going back to work next week. So I'll be back in touch.

Now I just want to quickly share something that happened last week. Bob regularly gets e-mails from his alma mater, St Joe's Prep and from his specific class of '58. Last week when checking e-mail, I saw one about an upcoming Communion Breakfast from his classmate, Tom Prior. I replied and asked Tom to please place Bob on the Preps' prayer list. Less than 30 minutes later, I received a phone call from Tom, introducing himself and asking me, what, exactly he could do to help Bob and I during this very difficult time. I was astounded. Since that day we've received numerous e-mails, phone calls and cards, filled with loving notes of encouragement and strength from classmates all over the globe. Tom also sent Bob a book about their classmate, Fr. Rob Currie, who has dedicated his life to improving the lives of others in places such as Appalachia, India and Nicaragua. This was an especially touching gift as it contains much information on the people who touched Bob's life in his 4 years at the Prep. Thank you also to Fr. George Bur, the President of  St. Joe's Prep for your message and for remembering Bob at Mass. Bob is also being remembered in masses as far away as China and Nicaragua, as well as in Philly! So thank you to all the Preppers for reaching out. It's apparent that you are men of compassion, conscience and integrity, practicing in life what you were taught so many years ago at Girard Ave.

And as always, our love and thanks to our faithful friends and family for seeing us through, for your prayers and messages of encouragement. We wouldn't be where we are w/o you!

Well, I don't think I actually said too much about how Bob is, other than you know he's eating well. And he is eating hefty portions. Once he stopped his meds (the big guns like, anti-rejection, anti-fungal, anti-virals) his appetite returned and his taste! He's actually enjoying eating again. With almost every bite, he says, "mmm, that's so good". Boy, it does my heart good I tell ya'. He's still weak, only walking to the rocker or BSC., but he's enjoying his collection of cd's I dug out of the basement. I had to search cuz they were in a box we never opened that came back after the fire. So how's this for eclectic....Coltrane to Meat Loaf to Wagner, Tommy Makem, the Chieftains and the Dubliners, then Tosca and Foreigner, Queen and Little Feat, just to mention a few. He's also listening to a Shelby Foote novel on his kindle(who knew it had an audio reader?? Not me) alternating w/ a book on Genghis Khan! And he naps a lot too.

Phew! I think I've gone on(and on and on, I know) for long enough now. I'll say Good Night and God Bless you all. And I'll try to be better about keeping up with posts ;-)

All our love,
Bob and Mo