To be continued 2

Steve has the breathing tube out of his throat and is now awake and able to talk to his family tonight. He completely "wiped out" each of his kids with his great words of love for them. When Jason and Kendra walked in the room Steve cried and begged them to just "hold my hand". When they said they were going to let him sleep, he said "just hold my hand a little longer...I love my kids...I'm so proud of you...."

Sara leaned over to kiss her father and he said "Oh, that is soooo good. That is what my life is all about. Don't quit".

Stephanie came breezing in the room and her daddy said "has anybody told you you're pretty?" and when she kissed him he said "one more...now another....one more". She got the giggles.

Kinsen was having trouble sleeping the night before the surgery. Jason told Steve that Kinsen was quite upset that Grandpa was sick. So, after Steve came out of the anesthesia he specifically told Jason to tell Kinsen that "Grandpa is just fine, he just got a new zipper".

We all had to laugh when his parents walked in the room and he said...."well I finally found my elephant" refering to the fact that he was totally confident that he was not having a heart attack because he always heard that a heart attack felt like an elephant sitting on your chest.

We are so encouraged that Steve is doing exceptionally well tonight. For some reason, however, the entire family is tearful.