In all honesty, I have not been much of a praying man these past few years, but I would like to ask fellow Creekers to include my father, Jack Carmichael, in their prayers.

Without going into a lot of detail, Dad has been ailing since having knee-replacement surgery in July '03. In May this year, a large, inoperable mass was discovered in his gut. It's been up and down with lots of hospital time since then. LOML and I visited yesterday with our toddler son to trim some trees and clean up the yard. Dad hardly moved from his chair and was extremely demure, as he's been for about the past month. When we got home, LOML and I talked it over and concluded he is just worn out and fear he's never going to get any better. Not even seeing his grandson, which has always brought him such joy, could stir Dad from his deep depression.

Thanks all!