01/26/26 Monday morning at 7am, while getting Astrid ready for school, Joe had been up and around acting normally. He came into the garage where Astrid and I were, completely pale, profusely sweating, and grabbing his chest, saying he couldn’t breathe and it hurt. We immediately loaded into the car, and I drove like a bat out of hell to HCA, a few minutes from our house in St. Lucie.

Within minutes of being in the emergency room, he collapsed and was taken into Trauma 1. After about 45 minutes, a doctor came out and told us his heart had stopped. They worked on him for 30 minutes until they got his heart restarted; it took 4 defibrillations and countless compressions. He was intubated and sedated.

He had a cardiac catheter that showed he had a widow maker. He had 90+% blockage in his left main artery, so a stent was not an option. He was transferred to Lawnwood in Ft. Pierce on Wednesday 01/28/26 where he had an immediate double bypass. CABG x2, LAA.

Joseph, our kids, and I love each and every one of you who has in any way reached out or spoken words of love and encouragement. I have no idea where I would be right now without our families and all of you who have shown up for us.