Our pastor, during this morning's sermon, spoke the words of the 3rd verse of that powerful gospel hymn "Amazing Grace": "...thru many dangers, toils, and snares, I have alredy come. Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far. And grace will lead me home..." As those last few words rolled off Pastor Warren's tongue, I thought about Sir's journey this past year and took a deep breath because I knew that he had been through what the song describes: dangers, toils and snares. And I also knew in the deepest part of my heart that "Grace" had delivered him to the status of "Cancer Survivor!"
Last week, my son entered the hospital to have surgery to reverse his illiostomy. I shall never, ever, ever forget that day-- even if I wanted to -- because that same day my 102 year old grandmother was rushed to the hospital after being found unconcious. The staff at the residential facility called my mother that morning to inform her that the ambulance was summoned because Grandmother had been found unconcious and couldn't be revived. This had happened to Grandmother on a couple of other occasions, but that was a few years ago. Anyway, Sir was already at the hospital in San Francisco, and I was in court in Fairfield -- hoping to finish my case so that I could be on my way to the hospital to be by his side.
My mother was at home by herself that day when the call came in from the care facility, and she was quite frantic on the other end of the phone. She struggled to hold back the tears, and I did too, as I sat in the presence of my clients in the law library. I assured my mother that after court I would rush to the hospital to be with her and Grandmother. But my mother wasn't having any of that; she instructed me that I was to get to San Francisco to be with Sir. After calling my brother and texting my sister-in-law, I knew that Mom and Grandmother would be in good hands. My sister-in-law eventually texted me that she was at the hospital and that my mother really, really, wanted me to rush to the city to be with Sir. Oh, I wonder how we managed life without cellular phones and text messaging years ago. Sir and Grandmother are both home now -- and it is because of Grace.
Our pastor also spoke about "gifts," and I am so grateful that Sir has used his gifts to develop the "imonchemo" website during his cancer journey this past year. I do not at all find comfort in the fact that my son (my only child) was diagnosed with cancer and had to walk that path. However, I am so proud and grateful that he had the courage, wisdom, and strength to develop his website -- which was his lifeline during his journey.
1 comment:
Great work.
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