Many of you know my youngest brother, James. He has had a heck of a few months. In August, while doing some yard work, a rusted nail went though his shoe and grazed one of his toes. He ended up having to have the toe amputated and was off work for several weeks to recover. In September, while still at home recovering, in the middle of the night his truck was stolen out of the parking lot of his Vancouver apartment; it still hasn’t been recovered. Mid-November, during a particularly windy storm a large branch from a tree on the adjacent property fell on his wife’s car and broke her windshield. And that brings us to now… just 2 weeks before Christmas, James ended up in the emergency room with a new issue on his same foot. They admitted him. After several days and multiple specialist visits, he went into surgery on the 16th for the amputation of the lower portion of his left leg. We knew it was a possibility but hoped it wouldn’t come to that. We all waited nervously, asking for good thoughts and prayers from those around us, while he was in surgery, which took nearly 3 hours. The doctors and nurses said he did well. They all are very optimistic for his recovery. They had initially said he may need to go to a facility to recover but we’re happy to know he’ll be able to go straight home—hopefully before Christmas. Thankfully, our parents and I have been taking turns with my niece (8) and nephew (6) while Mary (James’ wife) has been by his side or at home preparing it for when he’s released plus taking care of their dogs. We’ve all been able to visit him in the hospital and he’s been in mostly good spirits considering what he’s gone through. He’s able to stand and walk short distances with a walker. We learned this morning he will be able to remain at his job once he’s recovered and using a prosthetic; this was a huge relief to them and is the best news. We’re expecting it to be at least 6-10 weeks of hard work and physical therapy to get him where he needs to be. Once his wound has healed he’ll be able to use a prosthetic and go back to a pretty normal life. He does have PTO to help cover most things and has some really awesome coworkers who are helping in unexpected ways. And even with insurance, medical bills are adding up… surgeries and hospital stays, plus after care including physical therapy, medications, the prosthetic, and more. They’re a single income household, they know they’ll get through this, whatever it takes. They’re not asking for help, but I am. If you have it in you to assist in any way it would go a long way. Reach out to any of us directly if you’d like to offer ways to help other than by donating here. Thank you.