For those of you who follow me on Face Book, you are aware that my wife's nice Lori (in North Carolina) is now on Hospice. About a week and a half ago; my two daughters stated that they felt an urgency to go and see Lori while she is still with us.
Some hasty plans were made, rooms were booked, routes were planned, other items were prepared, and a departure time was set for Thursday night, August 9, 2012 at midnight. The anticipation was so high that no one could sleep (mainly me, as I planned to do most of the early driving) so we ended up leaving at 10:00 PM. The van was packed with all that we were taking including, myself, my wife, our two daughters, and two grandsons (Ages 18 & 9).
At about 5:00 PM on Thursday night, I received a text from Lynne's sister Sheryl stating that Lori had been moved into Hospice Impatient in Durham, and she thought that we may want to change our plans, and not come down until the next weekend. That was not going to happen; we were all set to go and advise Sheryl of our decision. None of us that were going were going to wait until the next weekend. We could not even wait until midnight to leave, that's why we left at 10:00 PM. LOL
This trip was going to be bitter sweet, as we were not happy about the reason for driving to North Carolina, but I was looking forward to it, as I was going to be able to spend some time with my family members, (more on that later).
The drive was uneventful, we had no problems with the van; the weather was good, except for a short time of downpours around the Baltimore and Washington area. Three of us took turns driving so it made it a little easier. We arrived at Durham, NC about 1:30 PM; but we had made about 1.5 hours of stops for gas, food and just taking a break.
One of the compelling reasons for our trip was the fact that Lori had been in ICU for about a month and she was very tired of being their, so she informed the doctors that she wanted to go home, be on Hospice and be surrounded by her family and friends. That is all that my two daughters needed to hear; we were going.
Lori has also made a request of her mother; that was to celebrate Thanksgiving with everyone. Those plans were scrubbed for a short time, but then re-instated. Plans were to cook all the food at the house and bring it to where Lori was. There was going to be about 25 people for dinner.
On Friday night; we all went to see Lori as it had been about a year since we had seen her last. We saw a lot of changes to her physical being; but, her spirit as a fighter was not diminished, she just knew that things were not going according to her plans of getting better. You could feel the emotions running high as we entered her room, as all of us loved on her and told her home much we loved her and were praying for her.
Saturday afternoon, everyone returned to see her along with the addition of many other folks who wanted to be there with her. The food was all prepared and laid out on the big table in the foyer and we had an early Thanksgiving with Lori. I have included pictures below; enjoy:
After the dinner was over, Lori went back to her room and we waited until we could go in, in small groups to say our good-buys to her.
We believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord as personal Savior; we believe that He is still the Great Physician and is still the Miracle Working God. We believe that He can still heal Lori of her Cystic Fibrosis, but Lori is ready for whatever happens next. She has made her peace with her Lord, and that is important for all of us to know that. We all were glad that we made the trip to see her. If the Lord does not heal her, then we have seen her for the last time here on earth; but; will be reunited once again in the Sweet By and By.
I had mentioned earlier about being with family members. Here is what I mean! Love your children; love your grandchildren; spend time with them; don't let the busyness of life rob you of the Blessings that God has given you. Pray for your children; bring them to church; introduce them to a loving God, as we may not live on this earth forever; however there is an eternity that we will live somewhere. Teach you children to make the right choice, and that is to except Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Here are the pictures:
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