You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130


Yesterday, Dan and Stef and Jacob called for me at lunch time. They brought crabmeat (cooked, cleaned, and ready to eat; they had stayed up til 1:30 am preparing!), slaw, biscuits, honey for all of us to eat with Den. It was a rare feast. [Later I brought the leftovers home where Rose, Chris, and I for the first time in our lives had ALL the crabmeat we could eat. Usually we get tired of cracking them long before our appetite is sated.]

We had a wonderful time with the Schmidts. They had made an album for Den of photos from a trip Den and I made with them to their Florida condo in 1998. It was hard to say which was the better--the company, the food, or the photos. Thanks, You Schmidts, for your thoughtfulness!

On Sunday evening Kim and Aaron came over for a family meeting to discuss Den's needs and our responses/schedules over the next few weeks. Our goal is to provide him with as much physical and emotional comfort as possible. Of course, there are practical aspects, like laundry, that we also share responsibility for.

My former Springfield neighbor, Leslie, surprised us with an announcement of her pending marriage to "that King Boy," as brother Joe calls him. In this small world, Sam King has Marshfield relatives whom Joe knows. We are very happy for Leslie and Sam. They are an adorable couple. Also, Leslie's younger son Chase is graduating from high school. He will go to Denver in the Fall for college. Leslie's older son Jeffrey is in the army and is in Fort Lewis, Washington, which is a long way from Iraq where he was stationed for a year.

There is another saga of illness in the Boaz Family. Lari, Den's only sister and the baby of the family, had an emergency appendectomy about ten days ago. She developed a severe infection after her release from the hospital and had to be readmitted for additional surgeries. Her daughter's wedding was on Saturday, and Lari was unable to attend. Saturday night she became ever sicker and was for a time in intensive care. Yesterday we heard she was mending but still very ill. All this family illness is extremely hard on Evelyn, Den's mother, who is 83 years old. Thank goodness, she still enjoys robust health.

We have had the pleasure of Chris' company more than usual lately because he has been networking and setting up wireless internet connections with a central printer for us. It is all complete now, and the rat's nest of wires, cables, etc., is much reduced. I wonder where Chris learned all this stuff. He and Rose also did much consultation on various gardening issues. Turns out, Chris also has his dad's green thumb.