Boy meets girl. Usually, the first attraction is physical. Then, there is romantic infatuation. Then, with God's blessings, there grows a love that lasts. And the years go by. And the years bring health difficulties -- so boy and girl are called on to care for each other.

Patty took care of me for weeks, after I was released from the hospital. Now, she's suffering from a herniated disk which is pressing on a nerve that's attached to the sciatic nerve, so I'm getting to be the caregiver. (She says the pain is worse than childbirth. When I hear a woman say that I say, "Whoa!!")

Actually, this week has been better than last week, when she had to stay home. This week she's been able to move around so that she can go in to work at her teaching job at Walsingham. She's taking vicadin (sp?) for pain, when necessary, but some days she doesn't have to take any. Meanwhile, the doctor has prescribed for her a week's treatment of (ta-daa!) prednizone, to quickly reduce the inflammation. Prednizone, of course, is what caused the histoplasmosis to grow out of control in my lungs this past October, causing my respiratory crisis! When I got home from the hospital I threw the remaining pills away in horror. Just think: if I'd kept them around we wouldn't have had to buy any this time ...