To all our dear friends, I am so overwhelmed by all your love and prayers. I can't describe how wonderful it was to come home to all your beautiful messages. I am honored to be considered part of your family. Pat was much better today. His blood pressure is stable, his heart rate has stabilized to around 72bpm, and they are weaning him from the vent. He spends part of the time breathing on his own and then they give him some assistance to avoid tiring him. For the first time today he became alert enough to start asking questions. Pat had no memory of the days leading up to being hospitalized and I filled in the blanks for him. As you can imagine he is a little irritated about not being able to put in his two cents worth, but when the vent comes out tomorrow he'll have plenty to say. His sense of humor is shining through as well as touch of sarcasm. It's amazing what he can do with a pair of brown eyes. I went to media play and bought a portable cd player and two cds from a very meager selection of folk music. I think it would be wonderful if he could hear some of your music and have wanted to ask for a couple of days. I fell in love with Pat the first time we met and within a few days we knew we were going to be together for the rest of our lives. He was the person I did not believe existed and he caught me by surprise. He is a gentle loving soul and the center of my life. There is so much more that I want to say, but my mind seems to be hampered by lack of sleep and the fact that Tristan is behind me throwing up. Ah...Home Sweet Home

Love to everyone, Karen

P.S. Big Mick...Thank you so much for everything you've done