Don: I promise, this is not an April Fools Day prank. I may be 53 years old and have always believed in God, but I have never been baptized. Most of you who will read this note have already read the rest of this blog. You know that it seems that Karen and I posted everything that ever happened during our 15 months we were mostly in Gainesville. Well I looked today and see at least one thing we didn’t mention. It was during our last stretch at Shands, over two months. They were not letting us out on day passess so Karen had to stay in the hospital the whole time. I called Pastor Calvin Carr of North Central Baptist Church of Gainesville (www.GatorChurch.com) and asked if he would visit. He came out on October 30. I did mention having a visit from him in my post of that day. What I didn’t mention was that during that visit Karen told Pastor Calvin that when we got out, we were coming back to his church so that I could get baptized. He said he would be honored to do that for us.

We did get out but…well you have read what all happened the last two weeks. The important thing to let you know today is that I had let Pastor Calvin know about a week after Karen’s funeral that I needed to fullfill Karen’s request and we have been trying to make that happen ever since. This Sunday, April 3, 2011 is the first time they have baptized anyone since that phone call. So, if you are in Gainesville on Sunday night at 6:00pm, you can see this important moment of my life. It is important to me and God and was one of Karen’s remaining things she wanted for us both.

I love you Karen. I love you Jesus.