Aug 13, 2011, 35 years! And a birthday.

Hello, friends and fans of Lorna. My name is Greg (Lorna calls me Gregory) and I will be taking over from Joe for the next week to keep you current on how Lorna is doing. Here's an update on what's happened since we heard from Joan on the 10th.

It took a few more days after Lorna's personal stigmata incident to get out of ICU. She was moved for two days to a shared room - still in ICU but transitional and still with a view of the river.

On August 11 in her new room there was a small gathering to celebrate Lorna's 35th Anniversary. In attendance were Lorna K., Greg P., Eric O., Lee R., and Bob C. It was very intimate. The five of us huddled inside Lorna's draped cubicle, sitting on her bed or in the windowsill overlooking the river. Lorna asked us each to share the moment in our personal stories where we fully realized that our way was not working and we asked god (as we understood god) for help to get well.

It was a terrific evening for all of us. Gathering together and sharing our moments of deepest transformation with each other felt very precious. Also quite meaningful were the cupcakes with butter cream icing from Lulu's - probably not the best food for recovery from heart surgery but very good for an anniversary celebration.

The following day Lorna celebrated her actual birthday. As she likes to say, she has two births to celebrate each August. One spiritual and one physical.

It's frustratingly slow, but Lorna is indeed on the mend and she continues, even in ICU, to be an inspiration to her fortunate friends.