The other night one of my first couisns call to tell me how much he enjoyed my book. It was great to hear from him. He couldn’t say enough about how much he liked Nick’s New Heart. He said he remember when Nick was born with heart problems because his mother, my mother’s sister, call him in Oklahoma where he was living at the time and told him about Nick being born. He skipped forward to when Nick received the heart transplant and remember his mother again calling to tell him that Nick was doing well. He had know idea of what we went through until he read my book. Even my sister in law was surprised at what happen.

My only responce to people not knowing is that we never when into detail because people are not really interested in hearing about people’s illness. When Nick came home from the hospital we just slipped back into our home life. We didn’t spend a lot of time talking about how sick he was unless we were asked and even then we would give the pat answer of “fine” or “doing better.”

It makes me feel good to know that Nick’s New Heart has given people close to our family a chance to know is better.  

I’m writing this post from the hospital. Nick has some kind of problem with his ankle. It has been going on for over two weeks so he had to be admitted for some tests. Thankfully he feels good. All the doctors and nurses have been admiring how good he looks. It has been four years since his last overnight visit. He has done so well in the past few years he has not had to stay overnight but I remember the days too well when he did have to stay. We are spending our time together watching the Olympic Games, ESPN–not my favorite–and movies. Quality time?  

One of my children’s teachers asked to buy a copy of Nick’s New Heart. She had already read my book because one of the other teachers had let her borrow hers. But this teacher want one of her own. She could not say enough about how much she enjoyed reading my book. For an author there is no higher praise. She made me feel sooooo good. Thanks Lynn.

Our family has spent hours watching the the Olympic Games this week. It is great to see proud, healthy Americans participate in sports. Not everyone can do what they do, but we can appreciate their efforts. I have enjoyed cheering the athletes and sometime I catch myself screaming for one of them to win.

I’m not sure what I expected, but I do know that I had not expected to like Pittsburgh. I turned out to be a wonderful city with great, friendly people. The rivers and the mountains were beautiful. I could certainly see why George Washington thought it was important stragetically after I viewed the rivers meeting after riding the incline. The view was amazing. Our family will always look back on our days in Pittsburgh during the Transplant Games as memorable.