November 14, 2025

Proof of Life
Bozeman, Montana
2025
(Photo by Connie Blackwood)

Some of you may be wondering why I quit posting POTDs back in April. One obvious explanation would be that I had kicked the bucket unexpectedly. If you thought that, you were close to being right. I went to Mayo Cinic in Rochester, MN for a two day routine heart checkup. I ended up being admitted to the hospital and staying there for 179 days plus a couple weeks  as an outpatient. During that 6+ months I had three open-heart surgeries, two heart attacks and a minor stroke. The last surgery was to get a heart transplant. This photo of me was taken just a few days ago after returning home. I’ve recovered considerably since earlier in the summer when I weighed some 125 pounds or so, looking more like this:

That’s me on the left. 🙂 On the right is Lily a service dog trained to entertain patients. I still have a lot of rehab left to do but notice small improvements almost daily.

Anyway, that’s my story (the short version). I’m not sure when I’ll be in a position to start regular POTDs again, but I’m hoping to once the dust settles around here. So stay tuned.