More Thanksgiving

I want to thank again those that performed CPR on Katie. Thank-you to the American Heart Association for adjusting to continued research and changing guidelines to ensure the brain and body more quickly receive circulation - vital for preventing brain death. Thank-you to first responders for not giving up even after 15 minutes of minimal response.

Thank-you to the entire medical staff. You spent millions of dollars on your education to ensure that you had the best and latest knowledge in hand. You sacrificed countless family picnics and nights at the movies to slave over your text books in preparation for the next test of mastery. You consented to hold life and death in your hands on a daily basis and to answer for your decisions to family, corporation, and self. From generation to generation your knowledge has grown to the point that we have doubled life expectancy over the last 200 years. This statistic is so personal now - my sister lives today as a direct result of your efforts and persistence. This fills me with indescribable gratitude and thanksgiving.

Thank-you to industry for developing technology like rotating beds that look like they came out of a SciFi  flick. Even at $1300 a day to use - a bargain!

Thank-you to the Wright Brothers for studying wind patterns and aerodynamics to the point that Mom and Dad could travel from Texas to California in a few short hours to be by Katie's side. Thank-you to all who helped me track Luke down halfway around the world in the middle of the Atlantic. Even thank-you to the telecom companies that made it possible for phone calls to him at $8.00 a minute!

Thank-you to everyone that checked in frequently and regularly to express love and support as well as for the little touches like coffee for family and friends in the evening, and fresh citrus in the morning!

Thank-you to my wife and kids, to Tracy and Jude, and to everyone else who kept things moving and functioning back home in spite of wanting nothing more than to also be present in our round-the-clock vigil with Katie at the hospital.

Thank-you Katie for fighting so hard to come back to us. Thank-you for your resilience and enduring through so much pain and discomfort. Thank-you for being such a lovely and full-hearted soul as to provoke such panic in us at the threat of losing you; our selfishness for your presence in our life is entirely justified. Also thank-you for inspiring us to live in the moment. Whether you left us two weeks ago or far in the future, I can see that you have lived each hour to the fullest and seized the day - a threshold I still aim for but have yet to sustain.

I know there is more to this road and even at our strongest - life hangs by a thread. I wouldn't wish the last few weeks on anyone, and could never accept the judgment of those who would claim justification for striking down my dear sister in the service of some larger or grander cause. Still, I can see that such deep pains and agonies are at times accompanied by whispers of hope and rebirth. For this I am thankful.

We love you Katie... keep coming back to us!