He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plumb

I am surprised that Brandy actually got such a priceless pose from April. I was under the impression that she was not willing to go bare belly for posterity. Very lovely shot of the little mommy. Well the first fifteen minutes or so with the family were awkward and I fully expected it to continue as this has often been the case in the past however..... Maybe it was watching the children play together that lightened the scene. My niece and nephew are enchanting. They are so beautiful, I wish that I could keep them here with me. The little girl Serena is 13 months old and can already speak in short sentences and she knocks me out. She is all smiles and she loves me! She does look a lot like me and that is strange because none of my own children do or at least I do not think so. It is weird seeing my grown up little brother, his voice is the same but his body is not. The same is true of myself being that I am a victim of gravity. My father looks the same as ever which is very well. Perhaps all that alcohol has preserved him because he never seems to age. He has not had a drink in six weeks so he may fall apart before my very eyes. There is a good reason for this (as if he never had any good reason to quit the booze). My father is a diabetic he has been for some time. He cut his thumb and was recently hospitalized. He had a doctor apt today but since he is out of state obviously he won't be making it. Here's the rub, his thumb looks like it's about to fall off. I am not exaggerating this one if anything I am understating it and I am seriously concerned. I cannot get him to go to the Dr. I do not know if he does not want to iinterrupt his vacation or if he's scared because he knows that he is going to lose it anyway. Yes, I realize that he is a grown man and that I cannot make anyone do anything and if he's too stupid to take care of himself yada yada yada blah blah blah. But in spite of anything and everything I love and care for this man and the I don't care philosophy just does not apply here. Thumbs are pretty essential, and it's his right thumb and he's right handed. He's a writer! I'm doing the prayer thing because I know that is my only hope. So please who ever reads this pray that this grown up 55 year old boy who provided me with 50% of my genetic material goes to the doctor. I don't know that his thumb can be saved but I certainly not like to see the situation get any worse. My friend David is an anesthesiologist and although this is not his forte I am going to try to get him to come over and take a look at it. Maybe I can get him to try to talk some sense into this hard headed Mexican man. On a lighter note my sister in law Erica said that she is surprised that Paul III and I are so normal being that we were raised by my mother. My mother visits her often and stays with her for a month at a time. To that I responded, " She didn't spend a lot of time with us, and I'm fully expecting to wake up wacky some day". I was kidding of course about but I often marvel how I managed to shuck her influence on my life. I always assumed that perhaps my brother was not able to completely do the same. I see pieces of her in him and I'm sure he sees bits of her in me. Genetics? Environment? Who knows. The one thing that I know to be true is that I am so blessed by God.