For those of you who pray, please pray for my friend Ann Marie’s husband Michael. He is an amazing person and someone who desperately needs good wishes right now.

Ann Marie was a childhood friend of mine. She and her family lived in the house next door, the house that my Great Grandmother sold to her father because he was a very nice military and family man.

Ann Marie was married to a not so nice guy for several years and has two adorable little boys from that marriage. The oldest has mental retardation and requires much care. When her husband left she was left to care for not only the boys, but also her mother who needed full time care giving due to a stroke years earlier. This happened just shortly after her dad found then quickly died of cancer.

Then she met Michael. Right from the beginning he has been wonderful to her and the boys. A friend of our family knew him from a time that they were employed together, and said he was memorable because he had a friend who was paralyzed that he took out frequently and helped out with his care. He was just the nicest guy.

When he and Ann started dating he always wanted to include the kids, even taking them to the beach for the day. I was very impressed because caring for Joey was hard work at home, I can only imagine how much care he required at the beach.

Anyway, they married and soon she was pregnant with another boy. Michael has been and continues to be a wonderful husband and father to them. My mother tells me that he takes Joey into the pool often and just holds him as water excites and terrifies Joey.

A Yankees fan (okay so he isn’t perfect) he and Ann often teased one another. She would put the baby to bed in an adorable Red Sox outfit and when she woke up in the morning he would be wearing an ugly pin stripe!

Last week Michael wasn’t feeling well and saw the doctor who told him he has asthma and prescribed albuterol. They took off to go visit his family in NY and while there his symptoms got worse, landing him the emergency room.

As I write he is having emergency open heart surgery that will last for at least 5 hours. I am hearing everything three times removed but the last that I heard was that IF he survives he will require oxygen for the rest of his life. Frankly, every time I hear an update it gets worse and worse and just doesn’t sound good, so please, think positive thoughts for this family, Michael, Ann Marie, Joey, Luke, and Mikey. Thank you.