Unexpected (But Always Welcome) Visitors

An unexpected visitor the day before Memorial Day(somewhat of a blast from the past) reminded me that I haven't posted anything since April 30, which totally blew me away since I didn't think anyone besides a few family members and friends ever read this anyway! She even told me she has it bookmarked in her favorites to remind her to check periodically for updates. Apparently, however, my updates are less frequent than her checking for them! Ah well, such is my life...(By the way, it was great to see you Sue and Terry!)

So let's see--I'd say that one of the highlights of the past month was our trip to Grady to visit with the families whose loved ones were in ICU. We (David, Jon, and I) typically make that trip on Easter Sunday, but since we were in NYC at that time, we decided to make the trip on Mother's Day (clearly another highlight). Our usual visits involve taking bags of "supplies" (i.e.-snacks, small toiletries, notepads, and the like), but this year I called ahead of time to make sure we would be able to visit the waiting area and was told that we would have to get special permission to bring anything to the families and that food was prohibited. Really? I was both shocked and disappointed. When Jon was a patient there, we always had food on hand so that we didn't have to leave the floor unless we chose. After many phone calls, I was able to speak with someone in Guest Services who told me that she would see what she could do to waive the "no food" rule for us (I think it was just about the time I started crying). I assured her that everything would be pre-packaged for the families to enjoy, but unfortunately, we were denied our request. Soooooo...knowing how helpful it was to have emergency toiletries on hand, we put together bags with toothbrushes, toothpaste, tissues, notepads and pens, and to adhere to the "no food" policy, we bought McDonald's gift cards to put in them. (There is a McDonald's right next to Grady, so although not the healthiest of choices, we wanted to offer something that was convenient for the families.) In each of the bags we also included a set of notecards with scriptures of encouragement that were especially meaningful to us during our darkest hours with Jon. I've written about our Grady trips before so to those who have read those posts, this is nothing new but I can honestly say that each and every time we go, we are met with grateful hearts for the simplest of kindnesses. We get so busy with our day to day lives that we too easily forget that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of people sitting in waiting rooms all over the world on any given day praying for a miracle. From our own Grady experience, I learned that EVERYBODY has a story and just want it to be heard. We spoke with families who shared their loved one's story--from auto accidents to motorcycle accidents to heart attacks to strokes--and the common thread among each of them was HOPE. Hope for a miracle and gratitude for prayers. Isn't that something we all need? Please remember those who are dealing with a trauma in their lives and join me in asking God's protection and healing for whatever their circumstance.

Hopefully, more soon--it took me over a week to finish this one!