Log of Updates

	Dec. 2006: Don spent the week before Christmas in the hospital. He was having increasing difficulty breathing and getting through the day to day requirements of life. He was put on oxygen and used breathing treatments and was able to be discharged on December 26, just in time to pick the boys up at the airport. Don has spent the last couple of weeks going through the testing required to improve his lung transplant score. His lung capacity is down to 17% and all the doctors agree that he needs his transplant as soon as donor lungs are available. Don is at home on oxygen and is pretty limited in what he can do and is waiting for the call.

	Dec. 2005: The boys arrived at the Pittsburgh airport Christmas Eve afternoon. Tom McCreight and Don have worked out a pretty good pickup and drop off system for the airport trips, which gets Don there early enough to try to get a gate pass while Tom hovers around Western Pennsylvania in his truck until the boys are collected or sent off on their way. Nate arrived ill, so he spent the afternoon sleeping, in hopes of going to the Christmas Eve service at church. Everyone felt well enough to go and celebrate the many blessings Don and the boys have received during the year. It was also a treat for the congregation, since many had not seen the boys since they helped with vacation bible school in June. Nate was still under the weather on Christmas day, so he slept while Wil and Ev checked out their stockings and opened some gifts. Nate was rebounding by afternoon, and the Craines shared Christmas dinner with Ed and Anne Wheaton, their daughters, and Ed's parents. The Wheaton's were nice enough to replicate the Thanksgiving dinner the guys had enjoyed for over a decade at their home. That tradition was changed when the Craines made the trip to South Carolina for Thanksgiving. Don learned during that trip that Wil's concept of Thanksgiving centers on Anne's yams, Mr. Ed's applesauce, and the requisite after dinner board game. With the holiday grief management exercise complete, the Craines were now prepared to successfully navigate the rest of the holiday season. The boys were really looking forward to some Pennsylvanian snow-boarding, but learned that some period of below freezing temperatures are required for that activity. Grief management again became a priority, and fortunately a warm weather Christmas gift came to the rescue. The boys got air-soft pellet guns and spent the rest of the visit in tactical exercises around the house. If you are not familiar, the guns shoot small plastic balls, and can be used indoors or out. The boys did both. Many, many, times. The balls sound great rattling around a vacuum cleaner. We hope the ones outside biodegrade in the next century, although we have heard they have the same half-life as enriched uranium. Don and the boys cruised around the rest of the vacation, seeing a movie about a really big monkey with some serious anger issues, and another one about that Potter boy, which was confusing because it really had nothing to do with gardening. The guys stayed around the house on New Years Eve, having taco salad at 5, a turkey dinner at 9, and steaks as the first meal of 2006. They finished packing on the morning of the 1st and the boys were off to Madison on an afternoon flight. Don's health was pretty good during the visit. The guys took advantage of a wheel chair to speed up a shopping trip to Lowes. Nate did a great job rocketing Don around the aisles. Ev and Wil kept a safe distance, but didn't seem to mind the experience too much. It was a good test run, if that is what the future brings. We're all looking forward to seeing the boys again during spring break.

	Sept. 2005: Don spent the summer with the boys at the lake in Idaho. They toured the country in the RV.

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