This will be a quick post....and perhaps not well written... but hopefully will address the specific purpose:
This Wednesday morning I received a call from a member of our church staff...He was calling at the request of my best friend from church...At 4:30 a.m. that morning, my friend found her husband slumped on the floor of their hallway and non-responsive.....After examination at our local hospital, it was determined he had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and had to be intubated to support his breathing...he was then 'airlifted' to a larger hospital that could better assess his condition and administer his care. Arriving to this larger hospital approximately 1 hour later than her husband, my friend was given devastating and life changing news....the hemmorage was extremely massive causing sudden and severe swelling within the brain and brain stem....his life expectancy was at best not more than 24-48 hours with life support, mere minutes without.
Upon hearing this information, I immediately dropped EVERYTHING and took off to the hospital, arriving at 11:30 a.m. My friend's husband was being 'kept alive' via breathing tube and other medical paraphernalia...in hopes this would allow the families of their 4 grown children (3 of which lived out-of-town) the time needed to arrive to the hospital. This unexpected news would take time for each of them to 'process' in order to 'prepare' their hearts and mind for the decision that must be made....to remove life support, with little 'hope' for a positive end result.
I have been at the hospital during this entire time, giving support and encouragement to my friend and saying my own goodbye's to her husband....this situation is never 'easy' to bear and it is only by God's grace that we are able to do so. More importantly, it is only because of our Faith and Trust in our Lord and Savior, that we can find some measure of Hope and Peace through it all. And God was gracious, giving each of us the strength to endure this time of sorrow and make the decisions that must be made.
Sadly, at 11:10 a.m. this Thursday morning, life support was pulled and immediately the heart stopped...the husband, the father, the grandfather, and the friend was now in the very presence of His Heavenly Father.
It was so very difficult for my friend to walk away from the bedside of her beloved husband, of more than 38 years. To know she would never again-- in this life time-- see his face nor his smile....would not again hold his hand nor feel his touch...hear his gentle voice nor his witty sense-of-humor.... 'who he was' while on this earth, would 'no longer be'. And while we know we will someday be together again in Heaven, we will miss him dearly in this present life.
My friend is experiencing a great amount of sadness and since of loss. The four of us have shared a great Christian friendship for several years and her husband, our friend, will be tremendously missed.
Due to this situation, I expect to spend much of my time during this next week supporting my friend and being available to her in any way possible.
Knowing how difficult this next 'transition' in life will be for my dear friend, I will be away from this blog and from all of my stamping groups for a short while.
I wanted all of you to know, I have not just gone AWOL, but will be 'ministering' in other ways to help my friend during this great time of grief.
There is so much more to the whole story, but I do not feel I can write of it all....at least at this time. I truly appreciate your understanding of this time I will be away from you.
Penny, Jess, Terri, Michelle, Grace, and Deedee....Will you please allow me another week or so to put your 'winning packages' together....I do not think I will be able to get these together as quickly as I had hoped. I'm very sorry for this delay and hope you will understand. You will get your prize packages, it will just take me a little bit more time....Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.
Until next time,
May your lives be abundantly blessed because of the love you share with family and friends.
Barbg(WV)
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