The Lake of the Ozarks

Here are a few pictures of our weekend. The weather was great, although really too cold for my taste as far as getting in the water...but I did. And froze. Katie's fiance, Mark, and his brother built this lake house a couple of years ago next to two others owned by family members. We had a great time. Thanks Katie! We'll definitely make it back...

We had my grandfather MacCarthy with us for the weekend as well, and unfortunately, he is having some health issues. He took a fall Friday night in his bedroom and dislocated his shoulder and being that he is 86 years old, it was necessary to take him to the ER to rule out any further injury. He came back to the lake house in a sling and otherwise fine, but had a rough night being unable to sleep and nauseated from the pain medication. He wasn't quite himself (and hasn't been the past few weeks) all day Saturday and had another rough night including restless sleep and a few more minor falls. My parents deceided to take him on up to St. Lukes in KC and have him admitted. He is there now and will have a battery of tests run and specialists visists tomorrow. It's so hard to see someone so sharp, so well-educated, so articulate, so successful and so independent start to lose the ability to exhibit those qualities in terms of communication. It was clear that something wasn't quite right when he had difficulty carrying on conversations...often grasping for words and losing his train of thought. This is a man who dominates conversations (in a good way) and is quite the story teller. I hope and pray that there are answers to be found as to why he's taken this sudden turn...it always saddens me to think of how hard it would be to have your body begin to fail you at the end of your life...especially when it's clear your your mind is intact.