Wednesday, Nov. 21 Not a Good Day

Wednesday before Thanksgiving - Not a Good Day

Last Wednesday, the day before the holiday of Thanksgiving, I had a very bad feeling all day. Did you ever have one of those days where you just suspected something wasn’t right?

Our friend and next door neighbor, Ruth, was diagnosed about a month ago with Leukemia, just one week before she and her husband were set to leave for their winter in Florida. Ruth is a Breast Cancer Survivor by at least 5 years or more. The Doctor told her if one was to get leukemia, this is the kind to get, as it had a 90% cure rate. She has been in the hospital, in isolation, while getting her chemo. The chemo, as you know, takes down all your white blood cells, and makes you very vulnerable to infections, the reason for being in the hospital.

Ruth and Joe are just a few years older than us, and have lived next door to us for over 35 years, we raised children together, and their daughter is very close to our daughter. Tuesday morning Joe told us that she was moved to ICU in the middle of the night and he was worried. I couldn’t reach him by phone on Wed. morning when I wanted to check in with how she was doing. I started getting a bad feeling. I tried several times, even calling one of the children in the middle of day. I prayed all day for her. I had my covenant group and our prayer chain at Hope UMC praying.

The house was dark all Wed. evening and night. Thursday morning I saw a light in the house and called, and heard the dreaded news, that she had passed away Wed. night at 9 pm. My feelings were right. When you hear 90 % cure rate, and the patient is in the hospital, and she fought cancer once before, you just don’t think of the possibility that death could come to her.

How devastating for Joe and their four children and grandchildren, and for it to happen over Thanksgiving, even more sad! All of our family had thoughts of them throughout Thanksgiving and the whole weekend. She will be missed very much, not just by her family, but by her many friends, of which we count ourselves.

Last evening the family had a very touching and lovely Memorial Service for Ruth. It was a tribute to a lovely lady who, as the family said, lived life to its fullest.

Love and prayers to Joe and family, and know that we will keep Ruth in our hearts.

As stated in my title, Wednesday was not a good day, not only for our friends next door, but also for my best friend from school, Nancy, who lives in New Jersey. I visited with her and her sister when I was in PA. Their Father and Mother are both failing, and both in nursing homes, and there has been much concern about both of them. I heard on Sunday that her Father passed away on Wednesday night also. It wasn’t as unexpected as Ruth’s passing, however Nancy, especially was not expecting this to happen so soon, and I know that she was not prepared. It also, not only happened at Thanksgiving time, but also he passed away on her BIRTHDAY, her 60th Birthday! So I am feeling very badly for her and her family at this time also. His Memorial Service was also yesterday.

Wednesday was NOT a good day. Let’s hope tomorrow’s Wednesday will be better.