Save a Life! Give Blood!

September 1, 1999 is a day that is stamped on my memory forever. It was Labor Day weekend when I received a phone call that my husband was in the hospital as the result of a serious tractor accident and was in a hospital in Des Moines, Iowa.

My daughter and I raced to the hospital and found him there in critical condition with the very real possibility on not living through the night.

Little did I know that I would spend the next nineteen years of my life as his caregiver. Most of his injuries healed, but the brain injury he sustained left him with life-changing symptoms that greatly impacted my daughter and I..

During that first week in the ICU, we were told that since Labor Day and the typical increase of car accidents that are seen during all holidays, there was a shortage of blood at the blood bank. All our family who had come to support us immediately went to the nearest donation center and gave our blood. I'm sure it saved many lives, and it just felt like the right thing to do.

I hope you will keep this shortage of blood donations in mind throughout the year and give blood to save others. Isn't this what Jesus did for us? Be like Jesus!

Another Anchor Date--Our Anniversary

 June 6, 1976, was a date which my husband liked. He thought it would be easy to remember our wedding anniversary, because it was a date close to being 666 (a familiar number in the Bible, if you know anything about Revelation).

There's been a lot in the news about D-day this year--the day in 1944, eighty years ago, when the Allied forces landed in Normandy, France, and so many soldiers died to free Europe from Nazi rule.

With so much turmoil going on in the world today, I may contemplate more soberly the deeper meaning of this day. History reminds us that even when things seem about as dark as they can get, there is always a victory waiting just around the corner.

In the case of Dean and I, the victory will be that blessed reunion when we meet Jesus in the sky at His Second Coming. My faith remains strong, as was Dean's, that God will win the war with Satan soon. Without that anchor, my life would be empty and miserable indeed.

Hooray for Groundhogs!

 Sometimes I don't know what to do with Groundhog Day. It's customary for people in the United States to pay attention to what a groundhog does on February 2nd. Whether he sees his shadow or not, coming out of his burrow, supposedly determines the timing of one of our most longed-for seasons. Namely, spring. Even though people joke about this old, Pennsylvania Dutch superstition, they continue to pretend there's true meteorological value in the custom.

I find myself thankful for Groundhog Day though for a different reason. It's a reminder of an important date, but most of all, an important man who I spent most of my life with. My husband, Dean, passed away on this colorful, memorable day in 2018, six years ago now.

It's not a day for me to celebrate, but certainly an opportunity to commemorate and cherish the best of memories about someone who had such an impact on my life.

Having just finished reading the book, "Man's Search for Meaning", by Viktor E. Frankl, I recognize instantly that although my life, before and after the caregiving years, wasn't perfect with Dean, he truly gave my life purpose and meaning, and for that I will always be thankful. God knew what He was doing, after all, in bringing our lives together.

my college graduation in the spring of 1976...the beginning of our "journey" together