Wow, What A Few Weeks

It has been a very eventful last few weeks. On November 17, a tornado ripped through my home town of Washington, IL. My niece and her mom (my brother's ex-wife) had their house completely destroyed. My childhood home was damaged, but is still standing (the house next door is only partially standing). My dad's house had a decent amount of damage (windows blown out, hole in the roof, fence ripped apart, some other things). My brother's house had some minor damage.

I was able to make it in that afternoon and board up my dad's windows with the help of some family members. My dad wasn't actually in the house when the tornado hit because he was in the hospital. He had a minor heart attack and spent several days in the hospital. When he was released, he couldn't go back to his house for two reasons: (a) the house wasn't livable because of the tornado damage and (b) he wasn't strong enough to take care of himself.

My dad has progressed some with his health, but he's going to need at the very least a stent (or multiple stents) to help his partially blocked arteries. That will happen either later this week or early next week. There is one completely blocked artery, and that cannot be helped with a stent. So there's no chance of him every being 100%, but hopefully the stent(s) will improve things for him enough to move back home and take care of himself after his house is repaired.


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