Tuesday, July 18, 2006, 10:16 a.m. (back home; it is two hours earlier here! *grins*)~

Dear Journal~

Hi! I am safe here in California. I am staying with Rebekkah Rachel Cohen and her parents, Micah and Naomi, while Rebekkah recovers from surgery.  She was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon, and she looked pretty good, considering all that she has been through.

Poor Naomi and Micah look worn: they looked older than their years when I came to the hospital. All I could do was hold them in my arms and try to reassure them. I felt sorry for them, but their moods brightened somewhat when I got to see Rebekkah getting ready to go home from the hospital. We then came to the house where they live, and we got Rebekkah settled in.  She was glad to be back home; but she soon got tired and fell asleep. Poor dear: she really has a cross to bear!

Last night, Rebekkah fell out of bed, but she somehow got back onto it (thanks to her helping dog, "Goldie", who reminds me a lot of Johnny's assistance dog, "Ginger"). In fact, "Goldie" and "Ginger" look so much alike they could almost be canine sisters! :) "Goldie" is a sweet dog: she kept hanging around me because she smelled "Ginger" and my own dog, "Cajun Gold", on me, and she was very friendly.

I called Bill earlier this morning (I got up at five), and he was relieved that I got here safe and sound. I miss him already, and I miss the kids. The kids were still asleep when I called, and Bill said that he was going to get them up when he got off the phone with me. He will be home from work during the time I am gone; he has taken a temporary leave of absence from work, so he can be home with the children while I am away.

Bill said that Johnny had been moping around all day, but ever since he got to talk to Rebekkah last night, he has been in a better frame of mind. So far, his health has been holding out; I pray this continues! Ronee' is about all recovered from her bee encounter, and she is glad to be home from the E.R. Her face is still a bit sore, and it is swollen, but Bill says she looks less like a China man and more like herself! :)

Ronee' has been worried about the kid who got stung in the mouth. He did give us some anxious moments when he was brought into the E.R. without breath, without a pulse (asystole), but we got him back, and he is now in the pediatric step-down ward of the hospital, nursing a sore mouth. I guess he will learn that it is better to use plastic pop bottles with screw on lids than drinking out of cans: for one thing, bees and other stinging insects will have a much harder time trying to get at the sweet-smelling soda inside! (Ronee' has  had to learn to do this herself.)

I am wondering how the woman who was shot is doing. When we saw her in the E.R., she was in dire straits: she was getting full C.P.R., and there was blood everywhere. She was shot in the stomach four times, and the bullets grazed her spinal cord (rendering her paralyzed; it is unknown at this time if she will ever walk again or get the use of her legs back) and damaged her liver and spleen (her liver had to be sewn back together and her spleen had to be removed), and she now has a colostomy because the fourth bullet wrecked her bowel, and it, too, had to be repaired. As of this morning, according to Dr. Hoelsteen and Dr. Stryker, her attending physicians, she was still drifting in and out of unconsciousness, and her condition is still very critical. (I called the hospital just a little bit ago, and this is what they told me.)

All I can do for the woman is pray that she makes it through her time in the hospital. She faces a long and painful recovery, and she may end up having to use a wheelchair (or crutches) for the rest of her life.

Only time will tell what her future will be.

The weather here is quite warm, hot, actually. I was quite surprised. I figured it would be cooler here, but the majority of the country is in the grips of a heat wave, and California is no exception. The only things we have going for us: California is one of those states that have a dry heat, and humidity isn't as much of a problem here, and we are in the mountains; so there is always a breeze to cool things down a bit.

However, California is facing drought conditions, and there have been fires about. We have seen some and have smelled smoke; it is scary. The main fires have been in the southern part of the state, but there are new fires popping up in other areas of California, thus, making a lot of people anxious. They are in dire need of rain before more fires burn and scorch more land (and possibly eat up more homes or human or animal lives). The fire situation here is getting more critical by the day.

Well, dear Journal, I will go now. Rebekkah is calling for me. I will check on her. I will write in here again before long. We are also going to see Susie later at the hospital; she came through surgery herself, but she faces a long, uncertain recovery as well. I will let you know how SHE is doing; stay tuned!~

God bless, and talk at you again soon!

~Louisiana Sandusky. :(