Sure, there’s still the recovery. The changes that will have to be made at
home.
But he’s alive.
Albeit weary and nauseous, but alive.
I called Mom a few minutes ago to check-in. She had already come home from visiting Dad
in the hospital and was now cooking dinner.
Funny, on the other side of the states, her daughter was cooking, too.
I imagined us, the women of the family, standing in our
kitchens, pots sizzling, fears calmed, anxieties dissipated, energy dissipated,
but hearts flooded with relief.
“Jamie, thank you so much for being there,” she said
after catching me up on Dad’s current state.
I laughed lightly.
To me, so far away, I felt like I had done nothing.
“Mom, I only did the best I could from 2,000 miles away.”
“Oh, honey, you did everything…and more, so much more.”
I expected her to stop there, but she continued.
“That Tango call really helped. Seeing you before he went into surgery, I
think that helped a lot. He was so calm
and peaceful…so unlike the first time. I
mean, and how could seeing all those pictures of all those people praying not
make him feel at peace? He was just so
different from the first time…”
I leaned my elbow on the counter and covered my eyes with
my hand. I felt the tears. It was like those words had been delivered
straight from God. Out of my mother. The unbeliever.
The inner evangelist in me wanted to cry out then, to
tell her it wasn’t me, to tell her about God, to tell her about why everyone
was praying and Who they were praying to…
…but instead I just said…
“I love you, mom.”
And for right now, for today, for this time, that was enough.
When I hung up, I let the feeling of hope bath
me. The feeling of faithfulness. Of love.
Thank you all for praying for my family. For praying for my father, my mother, and
me. Thank you for it all. I can’t even tell you how much and how amazing
this experience has been. Tragedies,
yes, they’re terrible and awful, but in the midst of them, if you focus the scope
of humanity, you are blessed with gifts that you otherwise would never
experience.
Faithfulness.
Friendship. Opportunity. Love.
True, grace-giving, unconditional love.
And that is something always worth acknowledging.
Thank you, thank you, a million times, thank you.
