KC Rich!! -- re: Happy re-birthday (#2)!!

[Guest guest]

KC Rich wrote: " ...And isn't it for just such moments that we go through

with a liver transplant? "

Rich... Jim ( & I) would in unison say:

YES! ABSOLUTELY!!! POSITIVELY!!!!! ABSITIVELYPOSILUTELY!!!!!!!

's commencement from California Polytechnic University in San

Obispo, followed the next weekend by Jillian's high school graduation from

Santa Fe Christian School in Solana Beach, were Jim's 1st such

" post-transplant milestones, " so Jim & I can certainly appreciate your ( &

Sally's) joyful spirit ( & profoundly grateful hearts) while sitting in

Peoria's Civic Arena to witness your daughter Beth's pomp & circumstance

:-)

Hold on to your (sun-protecting!) hat, Rich... as I must say that, for Jim

at least, it's been one swift " joy timeline " ever since (with weddings &

grandbabies! Oh, & dodging several post-tx melanoma bullets! You'd surely

agree, successfully removing metastasizing malignant melanomas is a JOYFUL

thing! And God's Word tells us to count it ALL joy, right?).

All 8 of us just returned home this last Memorial weekend from a

whoppingly-discounted Alaskan cruise (thanks to 's employee

discount). And at the risk of sounding sappy & over-the-top corny, whenever

the kids & their beloveds gazed wide-eyed at God's majestic creation, e.g.,

Mendenhall Glacier calving off giant-sized chunks of ice, Jim & I would

(watch out, here it comes!) catch ourselves gazing at each other, too,

simultaneously realizing how this " family moment " (our 1st vacation in 7

years!) was made possible by the transplant, which was only made possible by

, our son.

Rich, just wait 'til you cradle newborn grandkidlets in your arms, & just

like Barone on " Everybody Loves , " you breathe in a very deep

whiff... " suckin' in all that youth! " (heehee). Jillian's pregnant again

w/her 3rd, & we can't wait! Jim's crossing his fingers for a girl this

time, & threatening to buy itty-bitty-frilly-pinkishness, no matter what.

& will be house-hunting down our way very, very soon, & once

they sell where they're at, & purchase closer to where we are, they hope to

start their own family, too. It will be a joy for me to watch " Papa " Jim in

his element... since if there's anything on God's Green Earth that can stop

Jim's workaholic ways, it's a grandchild wanting to play (or putter... or be

fed... or given a bath... or snuggled & rocked & lullabyed & tucked in bed)!

Congrats to you, as well as to Sally (count me as one who appreciates how

Arne includes the names of beloveds in his posted support group transplant

rebirthday greetings -- as family members & loved ones experience the PSC

decline & subsequent transplant ordeal/adventure in their own unique ways!).

Congrats also to your dear Beth at such a wonderful accomplishment! What

was her focus of study while at college, & what are her future plans, btw?

Much love to you & yours,

Maureen (wife of Jim: UC '84; PSC '96, w/elevated LFTs dating back to '84;

LRLTx # 36 on 12/7/01 at USC in Los Angeles, CA, donor son doing well;

post-tx incisional hernia surgical repair 1/03; multiple post-tx skin cancer

issues presenting 18 months out from tx, as well as sporadic post-tx UC

issues -- which in turn have caused Jim's doctors to demand dermatological

exams every 90 days as well as colonoscopy every 24 weeks for the rest of

his life); ecstatic empty nesters & delighted doters to grandsons Stryder &

Indiana... who get a wee sibling in 5 more months, this October!)