I'm sitting in a very swank mountain lodge near Frisco, CO. My sister is getting married tomorrow morning. My wife and I are doing a song during the ceremony, my brother is videotaping and recording everything, my cousin is reading a poem that our grandfather wrote. There are tons of friends and relatives here hailing from CO, SD, NE, MN, and HI.

My uncle, a retired government workers union (AFSCME) big wig, and his wife are wannabe gourmet chefs. They prepared a rehearsal dinner feast that was simply amazing. Italian wedding soup followed by Sicilian Salad, Dijon-Herb roasted potatos, Cannellini beans with Prosciutto, Rotellini pasta with sausage, fennel and onion, and finally Tuscan-style chicken. That coupled with a few glasses of Yellow Tail Chardonnay made for a delicious start to this festive weekend.

After dinner, I had a bit of a headache, so went to our room to lie down for awhile. When I woke up about an hour later, a party was in full swing. Most of the rest of the guests that weren't part of the rehearsal had arrived. It was great fun.

Rather suddenly, my Uncle Jerry from MN (Inver Grove Heights, Joe) decided he needed to leave. So he, his wife, 3 of his kids, and my Uncle Bob were headed for the door, with everyone saying their goodbyes. Suddenly, Jerry collapsed into a chair. His face turned an ashen white, his eyes rolled back into his head, he broke out in a sweat and then was out like a light. I dashed through the house and grabbed the first cell phone I could find and called 911. After a minute or two of trying to figure out exactly the address where we were, I had EMTs on the way. Fortunately, there was also an EMT and an RN in attendance who immediately went to work.

He regained consciousness a short while before the ambulance arrived. They hooked him up with some oxygen and put him on an EKG machine. A few minutes later, after a bit of arguing and a phone call to the ER physician, they were on their way to the hospital.

Most of us were thinking that he was having altitude issues. For those of you who don't know, the air is quite 'thin' up here, meaning it has less oxygen than the air at sea level. This can cause a myriad of health problems until one's system becomes accustomed to it. I believe that's why I had a headache earlier in the evening, actually. Uncle Jerry's symptoms are congruent with someone having a more severe reaction to a sudden change in altitude. However, they drove here from MN, so the change in altitude for them was very gradual over 2 days and usually the gradual change helps ones system to adjust easier.

But, I digress. They took him to the local hospital and figured he would be released within a couple of hours. He's still there. They think he had a mild stroke. They were prepping him for a CAT scan when I left the hospital about an hour ago.

If you feel led or inspired, please send up a prayer or some good thoughts our way. Thanks.

One more thing I need to share. My dad died from melanoma a little over 10 years. It was the hardest thing to watch him die over an extended period. And since this is my sister's wedding, she has asked me to walk her down the aisle in his place..something I feel incredibly honored by. This to say that missing our dad has been on all of our minds at this time. My Uncle Jerry and my dad could've been twins, they looked so much alike. Seeing him turn white and watching he eyes roll back into his head was almost exactly how my dad looked the day he died. My sister nearly fainted herself at the sight.

Anyway, sorry about the lengthy story, it was therapeutic to write it all out.

My Uncle seems OK. The cat scan was negative, they no longer think it was a stroke. Doctor did make him leave, though. Told them to get below 5000ft so they left to head back to MN first thing this morning. My aunt and cousin were both sick with stomach problems this morning, so they've all headed back, missing the wedding. Doc says his blood pressure is pretty low, that and the high altitude probably caused it, but advised he go in for cardiac screening once he gets home.

Wedding was beautiful, I'll post some pics in a couple of days.

Thanks so much for the well wishes, thoughts, and prayers.