Bella

I arrived in Virginia on Tuesday this past week. Leaving home on Sunday, I stopped in South Carolina in time to watch most of the Rays game, drove on to Mount Olive, North Carolina where I spent the night with a friend. On Tuesday morning I met with a lady, who with her husband, went as missionaries to Haiti just after I returned home from there. Their son was born in 1970, diagnosed with CF when he was around four. Doctors told them he might live until he was twelve. He's 38 now, and he is an almost ten-year survivor of a double lung transplant. His path has not been an easy one, but he has an interesting story to tell. Perhaps at some time I will share it with you.

I left Mount Olive just before noon on Tuesday and drove on up to Waynesboro, where I'll be for the rest of the month. The leaves are changing. Mornings and evenings are cool, and during the day it is perfect. This is a wonderful time for me to be able to come.

I last saw Ella in August, when Sarah and I came up for her second birthday. What a difference a couple of months makes. At her two-year pediatric checkup, the doctor asked Sabrina if she was putting two word sentences together. Does she ever...more like paragraphs. The other day she watched an episode of D*ra, and when her daddy came home at lunch, she told him in about four sentences what had happened to the little fish who got swallowed by the big fish. I told Sarah about that, and she said, "She has my genes." Sarah can see a movie one time and remember in great detail dialog and scenes. She didn't get that from me.

So I've been watching the lovely one for three days. She is a busy girl, and I love every minute of it. (By the way, the photo above was taken by Ginny, one of Ella's caregivers.
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I receive on occasion e-mails from Steve Goodier, at Life Support System. He shared a story this week that I thought I'd pass along. As you read blogs, you find those who share their heartaches and burdens, and I thought of some of them as I read this.

GOOD FRIENDS ARE GOOD MEDICINE

Our news is constantly filled with the reality of death and dying. And each of us, if we live long enough, experiences the loss of persons we loved.

Children ages eight through ten were asked what they thought about death, and these are some of their answers:

"When you die, God takes care of you like your mother did when you were alive - only God doesn't yell at you all the time." (Beth, 9)

"When you die, they bury you in the ground and your soul goes to heaven, but your body can't go to heaven because it's too crowded up there already." (Jimmy, 8)

"Only the good people go to heaven. The other people go where it's hot all the time like in Florida." (Judy, 9)

"Maybe I'll die someday, but I hope I don't die on my birthday because it's no fun to celebrate your birthday if you're dead." (Jon, 9)

"I'm not afraid to die because I'm a Boy Scout." (Kevin, 10)

"Doctors help you so you won't die until you pay their bills." (Stephanie, 9)

I've observed that the loss of a loved one can be one of the most difficult things we humans can face. And one of our greatest needs as we experience such a loss is for simple, human comfort. I've known friends of sick and dying people to sit by a bedside or in a hospital room for hours, even days, at a time. I've sometimes heard them offer words of prayer. I've seen food in homes of people who are dying overflow from kitchen to dining room - food brought by comforting friends from church and concerned neighbors. And I've observed friends to just listen for as long as it takes. Caring friends are needed medicine in such times.

When U.S. Congressman Sam Rayburn (1882-1961) discovered that he was ill, he announced to the House of Representatives he was going back home to Bonham, Texas for medical tests. Some wondered why he did not stay in Washington D. C. where there were excellent medical facilities -- probably some of the best in the world. His answer was a beautiful tribute to friendship: "Bonham is a place where people know it when you're sick, and where they care when you die."No one wants to go through difficult times alone. So Rayburn traded the best of medical technology for the closeness of loving friends. He knew that good friends are good medicine. Sometimes the best medicine there is.-- Steve Goodier