This month our family has had some upsetting news and events. Pat had taken some time off from her job at Ye Old Country Florist and was riding with Fritz picking up animals for the auction at Athens. Fritz had to pull off the pavement and when he went to pull back on the going was so soft the truck couldn't get any footing and started to spin. About then a road truck came by and hooked on to Fritz's rig and pulled him back on the pavement. Pat looked to see where Fritz was and saw him lying on the ground. He had had a heart attack 20 years ago and had been under a doctor's care since. Someone called the squad and they took him right to Packer in Sayre. There they made him  safe for the night and Pat drove his truck home. The next day the doctors decided he needed a defribillator so the doctor put one in.

 I've heard that a defibrillator, if the heart gets out of rhythm, will give the heart a tiny electric nudge and put it back in time. Be that as it may, the next morning after they had operated on him, Fritz woke up saturated in blood, the bandage had leaked. He has been taking so much blood thinner that his blood wouldn't clot. So that afternoon they dripped a small bag of some part of blood that will enable it to clot. When he was released they told him it was OK to drive the car but not the truck. Pat had been having some troubles of her own, loss of memory, confusion of colors, even driving on the rumble strip quite often to be sure of where she was. So all at once Sunday evening she came to Fritz and said "There's something wrong with my head, can't see out of my left eye and I'm all mixed up." Fritz wasn't supposed to be driving alone yet but didn't think he had time to get a driver so he got her in the car and took her to Packer. The next day when the doctors there couldn't be sure of what ailed her, they called the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and they sent a helicopter to pick her up. That meant another hurry up trip for Fritz to see her before she took off. Down there they didn't seem to be sure of what was bothering her but finally determined she had a blockage in the side of her head above the ear. So they went in at the groin and did like a heart catheretization procedure to the spot on the side of her head. There they put in a stent. Now I don't know what a stent is and I hope my lack of medical terms or knowledge hasn't hurt anyone's feelings. So Fritz and his next door neighbor Jon Mauriello, who had been a fireman in New York for many years and had also done a term in the Coast Guard so Fritz wasn't afraid of getting lost, they went down to the City and picked Pat up and brought her home.

 Meanwhile back at the ranch, I had seen a tomato collection in Burpee's catalog that appealed to me. They were quite expensive and when I counted the seeds in one packet, there were 22 seeds. I thought to myself, I only want 2 or 3 plants of each kind and I probably won't be here next year to plant them so I'll plant them all and be able to give some to the gardening members of the family. So I have lots of tomato plants in my bedroom now. As soon as the weather allows I will move them to my sunny glassed-in porch and get Monica to give my room a good thorough cleaning. Luty's daughter Kim says her mother is doing well and is anxious to be able to get outside. Aren't we all?