I will be away from the foundation for a week to ten days helping my wife who is undergoing knee replacement surgery. My wife is a nurse practitioner and she always takes care of everyone in the family who needs medical attention –so now it is her turn to be the patient. My job is to be the “rehab assistant” once she returns home from the hospital.

I admit that I am biased, but my wife is an outstanding nurse practitioner. She has a feel for both the “art and science of medicine”. She has obtained several nursing degrees along the way and now teaches in the graduate nursing program at UMKC. She can ask you two or three questions and pretty soon she has figured out a diagnosis. More importantly, she is able to “pour cold water warmly” when she must tell someone that they have been diagnosed with a life changing disease.

My wife has been a nurse for over 35 years and she still consistently shows empathy and compassion to her patients. Every week in seems that a former or current patient stops her in the grocery store to thank her for her kindness and nursing expertise.

For the next several days she will not be the nurse but the patient – so please keep my wife in your prayers since she will be stuck with an untrained and unskilled caregiver at her bedside. But hopefully during the difficult times of rehab when pain causes emotions to be on edge she will know that her caregiver has been her best friend for over 34 years and counting --- I hope!

In Missouri and Kansas the state legislatures are winding up their legislative sessions.

In Kansas, hopefully Governor Mark Parkinson will bring a fresh approach to the partisan discussion that has taken place the last few months. Governor Parkinson is one of the finest people public servants I have met… he is a leader with both substance and common sense values. I am hopeful he can get legislators focused on solving issues rather than playing politics.

In Missouri, this year the general assembly has been as mean spirited and full of personal attacks against members as I have ever seen it. This “attack strategy” has taken place within members of the same political party and of course between political parties. It is a shame. Maybe in the last two weeks cooler heads will provide leadership so quality health care can be provided to more uninsured Missourians.

Somehow, politicians in our two states have come to the conclusion that mean spirited / attack politics is the primary way to conduct business. They are wrong. Whatever happened to transparent policy discussion? Most major decisions will not be made on the House or Senate floor. Rather, the party caucuses (held behind closed doors) are where the action is and the decision reached in the caucuses determine the outcome of what happens during floor discussion.

People are losing confidence in government officials. Our democracy demands a higher standard of conduct from our leaders. There are too many important issues that need solutions than to waist so much time on partisan politics.