A New Hope

First and foremost, thanks for your prayers! We have updates, and they're good.

* Sue's mom is out of the hospital. She's in a convalescent home, which means that she's there to convalesce. She's not the least bit strong. She's a little confused, but her history gives us reason to question whether some of her drugs (antibiotics?) are doing that.

* We did break the news about Charlie's stroke/condition to Sue's mom. There were some complications, mostly because we needed to tell her at about the same time she moved out of the hospital, and the confusion made for some distractions. We were afraid she'd freak, but she didn't. She asked us to leave the room while she wept for a while (IMHO: the best possible response); when we came back, she asked us to pray with her for him (Wow!) Thanks for your prayers!

* We have (well, Sue has) finally heard from the hospital in Pasadena. She "just happened" to get a nurse that was remarkably helpful, and the nurse had good news. Charlie is no longer described as "nonresponsive." Now they're saying, "He's hard to rouse," which means that he can be roused and is in fact being roused. He's being fed by a tube, which means that he is being fed! We consider this hopeful. We're praying for a miraculous recovery!

* Sue is not going to travel to California; her mom (and others) need her here. Her nephew (and Charlie's nephew) Mike will be traveling to Pasadena/LA. We're praying for clean arrangements, favor with the hospital, the police, and whomever.... One prayer already answered: we know a place where he can stay; it turns out the hospital has a hostel-type thing right next to the hospital where he can stay.

Thanks again for your prayers. They're making a difference!