A nice visit, and a resurgence of crappy health

Hi everyone:

The picture to the right pretty much tells the whole story about how Patty is feeling today. From the time she opened her eyes this morning, she has been tormented by a crushing headache and associated nausea. This has become a familiar refrain -- from Patty's point of view, I think it's far too familiar. She stayed in bed almost until noon, and still isn't feeling better. I suspect this will be a day of limited activity, unless of course Patty makes a surprising turnaround.

Last night, we were visited for a couple of hours by Emily -- a former student of Patty's who I've always thought was like my little sister, or perhaps an unofficial niece -- and her girlfriend Amanda. Emily was one of a group of students who were, individually and as a group, remarkable. Brad, Joy, Nate, Sean (now Roxie), Jennifer and others were among the first students whose artistic talent I saw Patty nurture, and they in turn made Patty feel very valued as a teacher. I respect them, and I admire Patty for her part in helping them grow.

We don't have specific plans for the weekend, other than to relax and let Patty recover. Steve still has the three kids until Sunday evening. The Chicago Bears were kind enough to offer us tickets to the sold-out Fan Convention downtown this weekend. Patty is not up for a long day like that, so Steve, the kids, their uncle and cousin are planning to go. Given the disharmony in the Bears organization these days, this could be quite a show.

That's all for now...more later if there's more to share.

Love,
Brian

Amanda, Emily, Patty

A short walk yesterday afternoon; we cut it short because Patty ran out of breath, but did another short walk later at night