Free gardening workshop

ROSCOMMON- The Gahagan Nature Preserve will host a program on Starting Your Sustainable Garden on Thurs. Mar. 16 from 6-7:30 p.m. The preserve is located at 209 W Maplehurst in Roscommon, MI 48653.

You will learn various ways to incorporate environmentally friendly techniques into your garden such as planning for pollinators, water management, and using native plants.

Topics covered can be used by new gardeners to create a sustainably minded plan for their new garden, or by experienced gardeners who want to expand or try new methods.

Attendees will also learn how to get involved with local community gardens.

Kalsa Parker BrowningEducation Director for Marguerite

Forever Linked

Continued from page 6 with a recipient. It takes two surgery teams that time their procedures so that the newly removed organ can be placed quickly inside its new abdominal home. Surgeons then reconnect the adjoining blood vessels and bile ducts.

Mark’s surgery lasted nine hours and Courtney’s six. At the crucial intersection of the two procedures, approximately 55 percent of Courtney’s liver became 100 percent of Mark’s, with the organ having been transported from one operating room to an adjacent room in a stainless-steel bowl. Mark inquired prior to the procedure “if you accidentally drop the liver on the floor does the three second rule apply?”

Mark was sedated for several days after surgery. His first vague post-op memory was “seeing Courtney wave to me as she was wheeled out of the ICU. I couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas present.”

This program is free and open to the public, though space is limited. Please register in advance by emailing info@ gahagannature.org.

On January 11th, 2023, two plus years after the original diagnosis, Mark was still in a hospital bed recovering. He had hoped to be released that day, but a painful battle with gout had him immobile and medicated.

Courtney is back home in Manistee, but fatigue is a constant companion. She will return to Pittsburgh in March to be fully monitored for her recovery and then hopes to return to work on April 6.

Mark too has plans. He plans to worry less, spend more time talking with people, and to allow others to carry most of the load that has for years interrupted his desire to write, write, and write some more.

Mark and Courtney are literally closer than they’ve ever been. When Mark is finally up and about, his plans include more trips to Manistee.

“Without her this story and life aren’t possible.”

Here’s how you can celebrate locally!