From Chena:

This afternoon when I visited, Dad introduced me to the nurse: “This is my daughter, Chena.” Big deal to me, because he hadn’t been able to say that for quite some time. We talked a bit about the Juneau avalanche, about which Juneau folks are quite upset but I see doesn’t make headlines in Anchorage or Fairbanks papers (but it certainly should!). Dad read the New Yorker cartoons, back page, but didn’t supply the missing caption (drat, ’cause he’s so good at things like that. Remember his cartoons of the legislature, Dana and Sheri?).

Dad had a CT scan this afternoon but it was done late, so we have nothing yet to report. We don’t know if people want to hear about medical issues or what, so I’ll supply some of the details as I know them. He is still being fed intravenously.

When Heather, Dane, and Joan visited this evening Dad didn’t want Joan to leave. She had brought him a gift, of which he was very appreciative. But it wasn’t the gift so much as the company, perhaps, which he craved. So Fairbanks friends, evening visiting would be much appreciated by Niilo. He’s such a people person.

Even if he doesn’t seem awake, I would recommend sitting there and talking to him for a minute or two. It kind of reminds me of Heather and me talking about raising kids: we thought quality time was a strange media discussion. To us, quantity is where it is at. Be there and then you will receive as well as give. We could preach about this, but the point is that if we observe someone for 2 minutes, we are getting very little into their lives and them very little into ours.

News: Marilyn Herreid is turning 80 tomorrow. The family so totally loves Marilyn. She supported Gordon (“The Popcorn Man” to Max and so many sauna goers) but more than that is her own creative, nurturing, loving self. It was a highlight this last March that Sanni, I, and others on the First Friday Art walk ran into Marilyn at the Artworks. This is a person who has given so much to so many.