Well, I don't know if I'll get to the pajamas or not. I have the fabric all ready and stuff, and then I remembered I needed to prepare a Sunday School lesson for tomorrow (we use a set book but there's a leader and I always kind of expect myself to dig a little deeper when I'm leader). Some of the regular members kind of traded off being leaders; I am the leader every fourth week of the month.

But now I'm also the leader for the first week too. Because, you see, last week the kindly older man who had done it this week quietly approached me and asked if I could take over his time as well. (At first I thought it was just for this month but it's "forever"). See, he probably has lung cancer. And he's already had part of a lung removed before, I can't remember whether it was from an earlier occurrence of cancer or (as I seem to remember) an injury from when he was in Korea.

So I did the lesson, but now I'm all sad. And I'm not sure if I have the energy now to wrestle with the pattern-paper. (And I'm not even sure I have a pair of non-annoying paper scissors; the pair I was using with the youth group have gone all dull).

I don't mind taking over Mr. F.'s teaching slot, I'm really happy and flattered he thinks highly enough of my teaching to ask me first to do it. I just wish I weren't taking it over for this reason. He's a really, really nice man - both he and his wife are nice. He's a retired elementary teacher, and I bet he was a good one - he has that kind of temprament. I hope that one of three things happens: either, that it's not cancer after all (unlikely), or that it's early enough that they can treat it and give him a few more good years without pain, or failing that, that the end is quick and relatively painless. (I say "hope" because I don't know which one is the most reasonable to pray for yet. I guess number 2 would be that, but I don't know...)

there have been too many people I've known recently who were in hospice for MONTHS. And it's hard on their families, and in some cases painful for them. It's just hard to see another person that I care about in this situation.