Today I am trying to think of things for which to be grateful. Before I tell you my gratefuls, I will tell you a member of my extended family needs lots of prayers. It's my daughter's brother-n-law. His name is Aaron.

Aaron is 24 years old and a newly wed with a new baby on the way. Last week on Memorial Day, the entire family went to their camp in Mississippi. They had not been there since the hurricane last year and there was a LOT of debris that needed cleaning. Each one of them had their own area to clean up and were all working together to get that done.

Aaron had the porch to clean up and there was apparently a lot of mouse droppings, etc. on that porch. He cleaned and swept the area. By Wednesday he started feeling badly and had to leave work early. Thursday he was worse and by Friday went to the doctor. The doc said he had a urinary track infection and put him on antibiotics. By Saturday he was feeling much worse and at about midnight that night he asked his wife to bring him to the hospital. They went to the tiny local hospital (a very rural area) and the hospital admitted him. His breathing was compromised and his organs were inlarged, like the liver, spleen, gall bladder, etc. All of his blood counts were in the abnormal range.

On Sunday night, his breathing had gotten more labored and he was transferred by ambulance to a bigger hospital in a nearby city. He was progressively getting worse. His kidneys were not functioning properly, breathing continually worsened. By Monday morning he had to be put on a ventilator. He has continued to hold on since being put on the ventilator, but now the ventilator is breathing for him 100% whereas earlier in the week he was still taking breaths on his own. His kidneys are still not functioning well and still all of his other organs are affected. His is in congestive heart failure also.

The doctors are thinking he has something called Hantavirus which you get from mice, ticks, etc. I had never heard of it before. This is one very sick young man who has a lot of life yet to live. Please everyone who reads this, please say a prayer for Aaron, that he may heal and be here when his baby is born and be able to be a father to that child. He wants that so very much.

Gratefuls:
1) that there are so many people out there praying for Aaron.
2) that I only have 64 days left before retirement.
3) I am grateful for all those who love me in spite of me.
4) My pool is up and running and it's not going to rain this weekend.
5) my three little dogs that give me kisses and hugs every day when I get home from work.