Hello Friends and Family

As Charlie and Connie have passed the six-month at home milestone, we figured this was a good occasion to update this community.  There have been setbacks, of course, but if you look at the full six months, by all indications, they have done a remarkable job adjusting.  Charlie goes to physical and occupational therapy several times each week; his long-term goal is to build enough upper body strength to operate a manual wheelchair.  While still on the horizon, a manual chair would make it much more feasible to travel both short and long distances.

A few highlights:
- As longtime Iowa women's basketball season ticket holders, Charlie and Connie were delighted to attend multiple games this season including the buzzer beater vs Indiana (see photo below of Chas in the background of the victory celebration!) and the first round NCAA tournament games.
- First overnight road trip completed to Liberty, MO to visit Charlie's mother, Caroline, and sister / brother-in-law Gretchen and John.   Having been a participant on the first mini roadtrip, it was a learning experience but also a success in that we believe more trips of this nature will be possible in the future.  
- Connie was able to take a short respite trip to Palm Desert, CA with Emily and Jennie and families.  Thank you to Charlie's cousins,  Ann and Stoke, for holding down the fort here in Iowa City!
- As of yesterday, after 23 years, Charlie is no longer a MidwestOne employee.  He was celebrated at a mini-retirement gathering on Wednesday and was honored with a lovely surprise as the 500 S Clinton Street MidwestOne bank building will now be known as 'The Charles N. Funk Building'.

We are touched beyond imagination by the continual support and outreach from this community.  We have one need for nursing care that we are still working through; putting this out here should there be a lead amongst this group that we may have not considered.  While we are fortunate to have great morning and evening health aide support, we are seeking occasional RN coverage or someone who is medically trained (e.g. medical student, advanced nursing program) to be hired to cover for Connie on occasional weekends for respite.

Lastly, Emily and potentially Katie -- four months post-partum -- were inspired by the work that took place last Fall at Shirley Ryan in Chicago.  We are signed up to run the Chicago Marathon in October in honor of Charlie and benefitting Shirley Ryan.  Including the link below should you care to learn more or make a donation to our marathon fund: Team Funk Runs Chicago

Emily and Katie