Dear Folks, Friends, Family and Loved Ones, I'm pretty much "out of it" right now, but I just had to post this message to both the PADUTCH-LIFE list and the Niagara County, NY, genealogy list. As most of you know, I'm facing radical mastectomy surgery tomorrow. But I also know that some of our new list members don't even have a clue as to why someone would post a message of this sort to the list. Frankly, the only reason that I can come up with is that over a period of time we have become friends in our mutual interest in genealogy, some of us have actually found that we are distant cousins, and what with my growing up in Niagara County, I have dug up family information and relationships to your families. Hey, that's what families do for each other! A great number of you have sent me warm loving inspirational words of support. ALL of them mean a great deal to me. TRUST ME, I don't know how I could get through this particular time in my life without those words of support. I know that I will continue to survive--I have no doubt whatsoever. Hey, I survived 30 years of service in the US Navy, what's a mastectomy compared to that?? :-) What follows below is a response to one of you that pretty much sums up my feelings right now. Just know that I luvya, vee In the meantime, I'm spending this evening tying up all the loose ends in preparation for surgery tomorrow. My niece Debbie took me out to dinner this evening, we had a whole bunch of hearty laughs over dinner, and afterwards we sat down in my office and went over the details of her picking me up tomorrow morning, laughed over the thought that she may have to tie a rope around me to drag me out of the house, kicking and screaming all the way, and then have to drag me into to hospital by 12:00 noon. I don't know how many days I will have to stay at the VA hospital afterwards, but Debbie assures me that she will be with me there and when I return home. In the event that you would like any sort of update on my progress after surgery, feel free to email her at Targon@peoplepc.com. She is prepared to respond to such messages. Right now, I'm turning to you for the best help that I need right now. Your prayers. Yes I know that God is with me but I need all the help I can get.