I said my goodbyes today.
At the hospital and at the lodge.
It was bittersweet. I have met so many incredible people, Gerard and Joanie, who have ministered to me each day with encouragement, smiles, while strapping me down and operating that great machine. According to them I did fabulous every time. (And I was on time which they also loved.) And some friends that I have spent time with while we were waiting for our treatments, Margot, 35 years old mother of three who is the cutest bald headed person I've ever seen, Bob, retired, Bay Ridge resident, and Ashley, 17 years old whose birthday is tomorrow and has the grace, charm and courage of a woman many years older. Our Russian friend left last week and our doctor friend finished last Tuesday.
My Lodge family is hard to leave. Isn't that strange? When we first came no one knew who was the guest and who was the caregiver. It's very obvious now. We visit Thad in the hospital, after my treatment, say goodbye and pray for him. He's cheerful but had a very hard time since his stem cell harvesting. Frank and Elise are heading back to North Carolina with their two sons at the wheel and Al and Paula are home now too. Jeff, from Glens Falls will remain until the middle of May. We promise to keep in touch through email. And we plan a reunion for sometime next year in North Carolina.
It's been a journey, that's for sure. I'm coming home with some battle scars that will slowly heal and be a distant memory. But I'm taking with me a continued assurance of God's love and his goodness, his never ending commitment to the good in my life, and a new set of friends that will be in my prayers and intercession as I resume my daily mornings with my Father.
2 comments:
margaret, thank you for being a vessel of grace.
SO GRATEFUL you are headed home.
love you much.
Although you don't know me, my son, Mark, was one of Christian's soldiers. He survived the crash but is still hospitalized. Hopefully, he will be discharged finally in July. I have been reading your blog via the link on Liz's. I too, lived with so many wonderful folks while spending a year with Mark at the hospital. They do become family in a way that no one who has not gone through it can ever understand. Please know that I am praying for you since we are all part of God's family as well as an Army one, a fellow New Yorker (although displaced to Ohio) and a mother. My best wishes to you for a full recovery.
Fondly,
Ann Lalli
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