We are very thankful to report that Tom’s health has improved. The new chemo with its more powerful partner, prayer, have been battling the cancer and have driven it to a measure of retreat. The ‘numbers’ indicate a 55-point drop in cancer counts since his previous treatment. The count is a long ways from ‘normal’, but we are celebrating that they went down by that large an increment.

He has now completed the four chemos that were scheduled with the ‘new and improved’ chemo that was approved by the FDA last December. I heard in passing from the doctor that they were scheduling more, so we will still continue to go the chemo route. Tom is scheduled for a scan next Wednesday to see what’s going on with his bones and innards, cancer-wise. A concern for prayer is that he can keep his creatine levels low enough (having to do with kidney function), so that we can get a CT scan. In order to get a CT, his kidneys have to be able to handle the dye. Right now, he is ‘on the bubble’. Any higher, and he will have to settle for a MRI, which is not as clear a picture.

This latest news has heartened us. We are even making plans to go to the campout!! That was in limbo, and we pray that circumstances will still allow us ALL to go. Tom has a motel room reserved, so he can get rest when he needs it, and air conditioning. So, Lord willing, we will be at the campout this year. (annual church family camp in Eminence, MO).

Tom is still ‘grounded’. We were mighty tempted to go to KC this weekend, where there is not only a wedding, but a church meeting Tom was scheduled to speak at. Tom had chemo this past week, and he is understandably not really feeling up to traveling. We really thought about it hard, and almost went, but on the advice of doctor and family, are staying at home this Memorial Day weekend. There was a ‘Plan B’ speaker for the meeting, so that was taken care of. We will just have to save up our traveling energy for a future date.

 

 

 

One misty, moisty, morning, 
When cloudy was the weather, 
There I met an old man
All clothed in leather

All clothed in leather, 
With a cap under his chin. 
How do you do? 
And how do you do? 
And how do you do again?

 

The nursery rhyme came to mind when thinking about the weather today.

This rainy, rainy cold day, Tom and I ran some errands in St. Louis and Alton. We ate lunch at a cafe, then headed on over to our local community college, Lewis and Clark Community College, to see an entry Verity had in the student art show. We were the only ones in the Hatheway building other than a couple of college employees who were supervising the art exhibit. Which we had all to ourselves as well. 

I am trying to remember the hot, hot, HOT and dry weather we had last summer, and think of how much we would have so loved this rain back then.

 

 

 

This exhibit brought back a lot of memories- SOOO much like high school photography class. I remember using the chemicals and the machine to make the prints.

Verity Woody’s entry

 

Verity’s photo entry.

 

Tom chillin’

Continued from previous post: Thought I would jot down a few more things before I blonk everything out.

Candace took off around 7 am Monday morning, and then we had a parade of hospital staff come in. The parade included a couple of therapists. The OT (occupational therapist) really cracked me up. She asked Tom what seemed like a hundred inane questions. And it wasn’t really the questions that were off-putting- it was her voice. Like nails on a chalkboard. And she talked to him like he was three years old, cutesy-bouncy.  ”What is the date”, “What year is it?” “Who is the President?” “What time is it?”. Tom had to think about that one for a second- he is not a clock watcher, and time in a hospital either moves really, really fast or really, really slow. He guessed, “eight o’clock”?”  The OT pounced on that. “Noooooo…. it is almost 9!” There were more questions, “do you live in a house?”, “can you take your socks off and put them back on?”, “do you use a walker?”. There were more of that ilk, then came the fun and games. “Okay- now we are going to do a grooming activity!” Tom patiently, quietly, answered all her questions until she ran out of them, and we were all relieved to hear that she wouldn’t need to come back because Tom was doing okay. I talked to Candace on the phone later on that day and related the OT conversation. Candace made me feel a lot better about it- she works at a different hospital in St. Louis, in the Intensive Care Unit. OT’s are there, as well, and as Candace explained, they have to talk to every single patient that comes in and run through the same set of questions each time, as part of the new patient processing. So if the OT sounded robotic and rushed, it was due to having to ask the same questions over and over and over and over again, every day.

To back-track- and because I don’t remember what happened when, Tom was swooped in and out of the room for different things over Sunday and Monday. The CT scan had to wait until Tom’s kidney was rehydrated enough to be able to cope with the contrast dye. I think that they decided against that, and ran a CT which did not require dye. 

I left the hospital about about 11 am on Monday to go home, take care of some things at the house, then over to Bunker Hill to turn in copy, process pictures and stories and get the newspaper I work on at least laid out. I work with really, really great people, and I can’t say enough good about them. Because of my situation, they are all taking on extra duties when I need to be away. I was able to get things lined out by five, then headed on over to Candace and Chads. She, Verity and I went to the hospital and saw how Tom was doing. He still was hooked up to all kinds of things, and was not feeling well still. Wendy had been with him in the afternoon, and got to talk to the radiologist, the oncologist and the fellow whose specialty is placing stents, a small mesh tube.  The problem, as determined by the scans was that a lymph gland, affected by cancer, had pushed against the small intestine bowel wall, and had pushed it to a position where it was essentially closed shut. Their plan was to insert the stent into the bowel. The second choice was radiation- I think to try to shrink the offending lymph node, but there were some complications with that idea, so they were not keen about pursuing that. That’s what we knew by Monday night, and the procedure was to take place on Tuesday.

I went over to the newspaper office very early on Tuesday to get as much done as I could by 8 am. Then I took off for the hospital. I mentioned in a previous post that the Center for Advanced Medicine was a ghost town on Sunday. It was certainly the opposite on Tuesday at 10 am. The street in front of the building was crammed with cars for two blocks; the valet parking lanes were filled and overflowing. A traffic cop was on hand to direct people around the worst of it. Parking was completely different as well. Each level was crammed with cars; slowly, slowly, I edged up each level until we were on the roof- and around and around and around I went there, until I finally saw a space- there were only about four left on the roof. Whew!

I wasn’t there long until they came to take Tom away to get the stent procedure done. That was about 11 am. I stayed in his room, and loved the quiet time. I had brought a jacket with me that I needed to replace the zipper on, so I worked on getting the zipper out with a seam ripper- sitting in the recliner by the window, getting the benefit of good light and warm sunshine. At about 1 pm, I wondered how things were going- I went to the nurses station and asked, but they didn’t know. It wasn’t long after that, that a really nice nurse with a sunbeam smile came in and told me that everything was going well. I kind of dozed off, then I heard an orderly moving things around on the other side of Tom’s hospital room. On Monday, they said that they were going to be moving another patient in with Tom. We were kind of disappointed, because it is really nice to have a room to yourself, but they have to make best use of their facility. The roommate didn’t materialize Monday night, or Tuesday morning. When I heard the furniture being re-arranged over there, (I had the dividing curtain pulled most of the way over), I thought that he had finally arrived. That went on for a little while longer, then I got up to see who the roommate was. The orderly had left a patient on a gurney in the hallway. I looked, then I LOOKED- and it was Tom!  I guess maybe the orderly thought I was a patient and he would have to get the other side ready. We ended up having the room to ourselves the whole time. That was nice!

Things started going uphill after the procedure. While Tom was knocked out, they removed the NG tube, which was a big relief for him. I went home about 6:30, then Candace came to visit after I left. 

I was determined to get there bright and early Wednesday. After making a couple of stops (thank you Walmart for being open 24 hours), I got there about 6:30 am. Tom got to start clear liquids. The hospital food situation was a lot different from when I had our babies. Instead of circling items to order, and then being delivered at a set time, you could pick up the phone and order from the list of foods at anytime until 8 pm. Tom was able to eat some, but not much. But he was headed in the right direction! I decided to spend the night on Wednesday. We watched some TV together before calling it a day. 

Thursday. I tried to order Tom some breakfast, but the lines were busy for 1 1/2 hours. Kind of frustrating- but it was one of those situations that turned out the way it was supposed to. Dr. Ding (not pronounced ‘ding’)- the doctor who would pop in on a regular basis, to give us an update on what was going on, said that Tom could go on a ‘full liquid’ diet. So, of course, when Tom picked up the phone to order some of that, he got in on the first try. 

We had some visitors on Thursday- Matt Harvey stopped in and saw us; also Bill and Kathy Cooper. It was really nice to visit with them!

We got the green light to go home in the early afternoon. Also Grace and Abby were on their way here. I was really excited that they were coming- that would be so nice to have other people there when we left- they could help with our stuff….AND the driving! 

I like how the hospital let me take Tom out in a wheelchair, instead of waiting for an orderly. We just packed up, got Tom in a chair, then I met Grace and Abby in the parking garage. Grace drove our van with Tom, and I rode with Abby in her car. After stopping at CVS to turn in our prescription orders, we went HOME! 

It’s been great to have Abby and Grace here- it’s like a home health service- they have cooked, shopped and also took Tom’s car into the shop to check out a electrical issue. Tom and I have been totally basking in being at home. 

We are scheduled to go to the oncologist next Tuesday. I hope that things will be pretty ordinary and get back into a routine. Tom had to cancel his speaking engagement this weekend; I don’t know about next weekend- he has a couple places he is supposed to go, but that will just depend on how he is feeling. He has been eating a lot more today; that is encouraging.

Tom took a ‘chemo break’ early this year. I had almost forgotten- I did a blog post about that already. 

As a reference point, he had his last chemo treatment in December, then the radiation. His next appointment was at the end of March for a CT scan and bone scan, then a follow-up appointment for beginning a new regimen of chemo.  

At the appointment with his chemo doctor, she said that we would have to delay it for a week, and try to get Tom built up- he had lost about 20 pounds since December. We attributed that to the pain in his back, and a couple of weeks he was battling a virus which landed him in the emergency room. Because of the pain in his back, he had been taking some big-time painkillers. His appetite was very poor- he would drink lots of tea with honey- crackers, soup, juice. But never very much at a time, and sometimes he would only eat once a day. 

In response to the doctor’s instruction to get some more meat on him, I went to Walmart and loaded up the grocery cart with all kinds of tempting, high-calorie foods. That was on Tuesday evening after the appointment. Wednesday- he really ate a lot, and I thought we were back on track. We went to church, and Tom felt good, and enjoyed being there and visited for a long time after services.

Thursday found him without an appetite, which was disappointing. And on Friday, he was the same, if not some worse. I called Billy Meek, of the White Oak congregation and told him that we wouldn’t be able to make it. I thought we had a bug- my innards were not feeling all that great either so we thought it was a bug. Later, I found out that Tom had vomited that night. Saturday, he was in bed most of the day, sick to his stomach. Sunday morning, I checked on him, and could tell that he was really very ill. I asked him if he wanted me to take him to the hospital, and he indicated, “yes.”

Our phone has been having some issues over the last month- our land line. There had been a LOT of static on it, so much, that I unplugged our cordless phone and plugged in our phone that we save for power outage emergencies. the kind that has the coiled cord, and you have to stand in place and talk. It sounded better, or at least it had until the morning that I really needed it to behave. I called the oncologist’s number, which then directed me to the answering service. I left a message, then a Dr. Christopher talked to me, or tried to talk to me through the buzzing phone line. I finally gave him my cell phone number. But that wasn’t much better, because the only good place at our house to talk on our cell is if we go outside. So I threw on my coat over my robe and jammies and was standing out in the yard talking to him. He told me that he had arranged a bed at Barnes. I asked him if it would be possible for us to go to Barnes West. Barnes West is much smaller, we were used to it- that is where Tom gets scans and his cancer center is adjacent to it. And parking is not a hassle, either. He reluctantly agreed that we could go there, so I packed Tom into the car, and off we went. I called Wendy and told her what was going on, so she could phone tree her siblings. She advised us to go to what I call “Big Barnes”; they would have everything Tom needs. It was possible if we had gone to Barnes West, that he might have to transfer anyway, so it just made more sense to go with the bigger hospital. I called Dr. Christopher back and told him that we had changed our minds. He should get an award for his patience with us. He said that he would call back and let us know if a bed was still available; which there was. So off to “Big Barnes” we headed. Well, I should mention that I am driving on I-270 when I am conversing with the doctor. Tom was not really ‘there’ with his misery and all. The doctor was giving me directions to where we should go, what streets to look for. He said there would be valet parking, and that I should go in, turn left, then look for this set of elevators and the Shoenberg Pavilion and go to the seventh floor. I repeated everything he said to Tom, because I had no faith at all in my memory. I got to the street by the hospital, then Tom came out of his stupor enough to tell me to turn right at a street. It wasn’t the street the doctor told me, but turns out it was an even better way to go.

And this is when it got really surreal. When I say, “Big Barnes”, it is not only the main hospital, which is unbelievably huge- there are several other really big buildings that take up several blocks. We got to the Advanced Medicine Building, and turned in. There were NO cars there at all. I pulled into a valet parking lane- one of three or four marked that way. And I waited for someone to come out and valet our car- but there was NOBODY. Next to our car was a row of wheelchairs. I thought that I would just let the car sit, since no one was around and just take Tom in myself. I went to back up a wheelchair and it wouldn’t budge. The wheels were locked, and I had no idea how to unlock them. So, I thinks to myself that I will go in and find someone to help me. The entrance to this huge, modern building has a huge revolving door, with three sections in the door. Each section would accommodate a person pushing a wheelchair. I entered the building through one of those and found myself in a huge, HUGE atrium- empty and echoing. I went over to the unmanned information desk and saw a sign that told me that no one was there that day, and to use the phone. At this point in time, I decided to use some old-fashioned ‘hollers’, and called out, “Hellloooooooo”, “Hellllloooooo”, and looked all around the vast waiting area and staircases to see if ANYONE was there. 

God always provides, of course. Down a distant set of stairs, came a very nice orderly in a blue uniform. I asked him if he could help us, and when I remarked on there not being anyone there for anything, he said that it was not only Sunday, but Easter Sunday. Which explained a lot. I told him what the doctor had told me about where they wanted Tom to be. (Poor Tom- he was still sitting out in the car all this time). The orderly came out and with no problem at all, got Tom loaded up and into the building. I sure was hoping that we were on the same page when I gave him the directions for Tom’s destination.

There is a parking garage next to that building- that turned out beautifully, as well, also. I got a primo parking space, since I was essentially the only person there besides the skeleton crew working that day. By the grace of God, I was able to wander through the building and managed to find the right hallways, elevator, and eventually room, where Tom was getting settled in. 

I won’t go into all the details of what Tom went through. He was sick, sick, sick, and getting dangerously ill. He was so dehydrated from vomiting that it affected his kidney function, and since he pretty much just has one that works, we were concerned about that. He was so nauseous that they put a tube down his nose into his stomach and connected it to a vacuum device. We were absolutely shocked at how much that pulled out of him. At that point in time, we didn’t know what was the matter with him. Turns out that his small intestine was blocked completely. 

But we didn’t know that until Monday. On Sunday, Wendy came to the hospital to be with Tom and I. It was nice to spend time with her. We couldn’t locate the cafeteria at lunchtime, so went across the street from the building and ate at Applebees. I felt guilty enjoying really delicious food, while Tom was having gastrointestinal issues, but hope that we can go out to eat sometime in the near future. When we came back to the building Wendy and I had a good laugh- we had walked right by the cafeteria. If we had just looked to our left we would have seen it- but their food isn’t as nice as Applebees anyway.

Wendy left, and it wasn’t long until Candace came by. She had just finished her shift at the hospital she works with, which is affiliated with Barnes. This was about 8 pm, and she decided that she too, would spend the night. Hospital staff had already brought in a rollaway bed for me; there was also a recliner. We settled in for the night at about 10 pm. Candace was in the recliner, I was on the rollaway- neither promised a really restful night, but we wanted to take care of Tom. Candace and I restlessly ‘slept’ for about four hours, then switched. She got some sleep, and I just got up and worked on newspaper stuff on the laptop for a couple of hours, then literally passed out in the recliner after that. Poor Tom had a bad night- he was up and down and up and down and in so much discomfort- he would sit on his bed and rock back and forth. He never complained or moaned, but we could tell that he was in a lot of pain.

I think I will take a break for now- maybe I will add more later. I am not really thinking of this as a public post, but as a journal entry.

 

The weekend of February 1-3 I flew in a commercial jet plane for the third time in my life. If you fly all the time, then you may find the following tedious, and will wonder why I am writing a treatise on it. I wanted to record it for my own ‘historical record’ to jog my memory in the years to come, Lord willing.

 

The first time I few commercially was in December 1973, when our family Bown (seven people) flew home from Los Angeles, California. I don’t remember much about it, except that it was on Continental, and that we landed at the (then) very new KCI airport. That was a really neat family vacation. We wanted to go while everyone was still at home. I think that my oldest brother was a senior. We took an Amtrak train out, got to see Disneyland, Sea World, Universal Studios and the ocean- all firsts.

 

The second was an unexpected gift- Verity and I flew out to the Ontario airport (Los Angeles area) to join Tom and most of the other kids for the Anaheim two-week study in 1999.

 

And then this last weekend. In the middle of winter…to Detroit…to go to a funeral.

 

I was so grateful that Tom ‘knew the ropes’. Things really changed between 1999 and 2013 getting on an airplane-wise. There were all kinds of things you had to do to get through security. For a lot of you this is old hat, and mundane, but for me, it was all new and a little intimidating.

 

First, we took our bigger bags to luggage check-in. (No charge for two bags- points for Southwest Airlines). We had kind of debated about whether it was worth the risk of having our luggage lost by checking it-which has happened to both of us before. But we decided to risk it. At St. Louis, you check it in, and then you have to haul it over to the bag guys. Which we didn’t realize- we walked off without the bags, leaving them at check-in, then when we saw the bag guys, whisked back and claimed the bags. The befuddled check-in lady was wondering where we went to.   You also have to have your driver’s license out to get your boarding pass checked- it can’t just be in the little window in your wallet. They want it OUT and will look at it closely. Only then can you go through security.

 

Security: I almost did everything right. You have to remove a lot of stuff and put into trays that are kind of like cafeteria trays, which go onto a conveyor system and then through a scanner.  I had loafers, which were easy to step out of and put in the tray, and my purse, and my coat. I put the laptop in a tray- which I got in ‘trouble’ for- you not only have to take it out of the bag, which I hadn’t, but you have to put the bag and the laptop in separate trays. So we had to wait a little bit for them to examine the laptop in some sort of machine. I thought everyone was very professional and took their job seriously.

 

Another point for Southwest- they said that we only had to be there 1/2 hour before our flight, instead of one or two hours required by other airlines. Which was good, because we didn’t have a whole lot of time before the flight left. In the little time we waited, I found myself getting very nervous. I didn’t really know why, but I was. I grew up around planes- my dad flew small planes, and we had flown with him quite a bit, so it wasn’t going up in the air that was the problem.

 

Again, another point for Southwest Airlines- I really, REALLY like the way they board passengers. Maybe other airlines have adopted this; I only am familiar with what we just flew on. On your boarding pass, there are three different classifications, ‘A’, ‘B’, or ‘C’, and there are numbers for each of those letters, 1-31. On the flight out, Tom and I were both in the ‘B’ category. Tom’s was something like B 2, and mine was on down the line, B 15, because we bought my ticket several hours after Tom did. Kind of a long story there- let’s just say my daughters won when they triple-teamed me to go with Tom to Detroit.

 

 When they call our your letter, you are to line up by poles that have your number on them. It is so organized! I liked it that Tom was going to get on the plane before me- he could save me a seat. And it worked out exactly that way. He let me have the window seat. The plane was pretty full. We were right behind the wing, so we had a good view. After backing away from the gate, and taxiing to the runway, I was relaxing, and then we took off. That sure is a thrill. You get pushed back into your seat from the acceleration, and then you get pressed down as you start the steep climb.  

 

It was a lovely day, and we could see down below us so well. We headed eastward, going south of the Alton area- the Clark Bridge was very clear, and the ConAgra silos looked like tiny little toys.

 

The trip went very fast. It seemed like we went up, then almost immediately started going down. Then out of the plane into the terminal. It almost seemed like we had just gone right back to where we started, everything at the Detroit Wayne County terminal seemed so similar to Lambert St. Louis. The carpet was exactly the same.

 

 We found our way to the luggage carousel. Funny how so many suitcases look EXACTLY alike. Thankfully, ours had behaved and were there with all the other bags going from St. Louis to Detroit.

 

I tried to spare Tom as much as I could- I could handle rolling all of our stuff, as long as things didn’t get too narrow. We had a long walk, then up one escalator and across a bridge, then down an escalator to go catch the shuttle to our rental car. We walked outside, and were hit by the cold, cold, cold air. It was snowing a bit too. This was also a new experience- shuttle and rental car. After a while standing there with our backs to the cold and wind, the shuttle came. The driver was so nice- he loaded our bags for us. We took a little jaunt, and ended up at Enterprise. We got a Mazda something or other- small. One funny thing was that we had a hard time figuring out how to lock it. We are spoiled and have those little buttons on key fobs we push to lock our own cars. We finally figured out that the locks were manual. We probably looked pretty funny trying to figure out how to lock the car.

 The drive from Detroit to Clarkston went very smoothly. Before we headed off to Clarkston, we decided to locate our hotel- I think it might have been in Pontiac (?).It seemed like there was no good way to get on and off the freeway- you had to take some side roads to get to the hotel. Tom figured it out pretty quickly- the road we needed to get to the interstate went through the Chrysler Corporation campus. Very impressive buildings.

 

Technology can be so wonderful and useful, but it can also get you in all kinds of pickles. We were using my cell phone for navigation, and ended up going in the opposite direction to the one we were supposed to be going on our way to the funeral home. Tom’s innate sense of direction got us to where we were supposed to be eventually.

 

It was a very nice funeral home- the people there very kind and accommodating. The visitation was divided into two periods- from 3-5 pm and 6-8 or something like that. We went to the earlier visitation. It was lovely to finally get a chance to hug the Evans kids and their families. Our hearts just ache for them. Chryste was the central point of the family. Someone used the analogy that she was the ‘glue that held them together’. I am sure that they will adjust and different ones will be able to supply what is needed as time goes by.  Dave was doing the best he could. When he came in, he said so sadly, “I don’t want to be here”. And we all knew that what he meant. No one wanted to be there-no one wanted this to happen to Chryste and her beloved family.

 

They had a change of plans about the burial- they decided that they would have it following the funeral, instead of the previously announced Monday burial. We were very pleased with that- we could go home on Sunday afternoon instead of Monday, and then I wouldn’t miss work on Monday. Again, another big plug for Southwest Airline. Tom called them up and changed the tickets from Monday to Sunday, and they didn’t charge us a penny!!  Tom said that some airlines would penalize for that and charge a bunch of money if you changed your tickets.

 

I don’t really want to say much about the funeral. It was touching, personal and had sad moments and uplifting moments.

 

The cemetery service was interesting. They have a two-sided log-cabin-looking enclosure with concrete floor for the burial service. It was nice to not have to stand in the icy outdoors and in snow. It was still very, very cold though. I am thinking the temperature was in the teens, maybe low 20’s, and it had been snowing off and on all day and there was a good stiff breeze. A lot of the people who attended the funeral came out to the gravesite. After the service, one of the funeral people handed each person a red carnation to put on the casket. They ran out of carnations, and then used roses until those ran out as well.

 

All but the immediate family went to the Gingellville church building for a meal, then remembrances afterwards- and songs. The family stayed at the cemetery until Chryste’s body was interred. The gathering at the church building was relaxed and for the most part, very comforting. There was a lot of food served- Lisa Radak from Shepherd congregation in Michigan had brought a roaster full of chicken alfredo, and other food; Cathy Manning had prepared a roaster full of meatballs- there was mostaccioli and all kinds of dessert. I think some of Chris McLaren’s family had brought some food. I don’t want to leave anyone out- I am sure there were others that helped out as well. After sharing memories of Chryste and singing for quite a while, Tom and I started feeling weary and left at about 7 to go back to the hotel.

 

The hotel had a very nice continental breakfast. It reminded me just a smidge of the campout- you get up in the morning, and see people you know at breakfast. I am not sure who all was at the hotel- Tom and I; Steve, Kylee Wright; Emery and Rachel Wright; Dale, Ladeanna, Alyssa Twaddell; Jim, Cheryl Evans; Jamie Ingle; Bernice Evans; Mike and Cathy Manning; Rick Sparks. There may have been more that escape my memory just now. The breakfast had all kinds of food- Belgian waffles, bagels, toast, English muffins, eggs, sausage, yogurt, cereal, juice, coffee

 

We really loved the church services on Sunday morning- it just felt like family getting together.  Dave made the observation that Chryste would have loved the singing that morning- the building was pretty full, and there were a lot of talented singers there. Tom and Rick spoke that morning. Tom talked about contentment- Rick’s words helped us see past the present pain. We had leftovers after service, and then visited until about 2 pm, and headed back to the airport.

 

We had plenty of time, so we sat and relaxed and dozed a little. Finally it was time to board the plane- I think about 7 pm. The guy who was in charge of boarding announced that we had 60 some people for a 200+ passenger plane. That was good news- then he said that the plane was brand-new. We were really, really excited about both those pieces of information. We got on the plane, picked out seats in front of the wing and stretched out as best we could. We had three seats for the two of us. I was happy for Tom that he could be comfortable. Before we left the terminal, there was a guy in some sort of cherry-picker bucket vehicle just outside our window. He was checking the plane for ice. It was very, very cold, and I felt sorry for him- he looked bundled up enough, but it still had to be cold. It was kind of strange- I looked out my window- and there he was looking in at us!

 

This was the first time I had flown at night. Oh, how beautiful it was! There were enough low clouds to let town lights glow through. It looked like we were flying over a dark ocean with lily pads of light on the surface. We tried to guess where we were, but we really didn’t have any reference points. We finally figured out when we got close to St. Louis that we were following 270 across the Mississippi River.

 

Our bags got unloaded so fast, that they didn’t even have the flight number on the marquee at the luggage carousel. The lovely Bill and Kathy Cooper got  there right on the dot, and found us waiting for them on the curb. We loaded up and moved ‘em out! They insisted on taking us out to supper. Different restaurants were proposed- Tom suggested Applebees. We thought they would be swamped that night because of the Super Bowl, but it was a ghost town there, and we almost had the place to ourself- plus the guys could watch the game. I couldn’t tell you without thinking hard who played who, and who won.

 

Home again- back to our routine. We are so thankful we got to go  – and keep the Evans in our prayers all through the day.

 

Even writing that title is unreal. What? How can this be? Chryste has passed from this life to the next? We heard the words ‘shocked’ ‘stunned’ ‘unbelievable’ many times. And that is how we felt/feel. Yet, it is true. She was translated into the spiritual realm after suffering a fatal heart attack caused by a combination of health issues.

 

In our minds, when we think of Chryste, we hear her wonderful laugh, see that great smile, remember her positive outlook, and her great love of people.

 

The people she loved best were her family- her husband Dave- well, we called him ‘Dave’, but she called him ‘David’. Chryste was very proper and correct; that translated to everything she was interested in. She pronounced everything distinctly: “David”, and children “Charity”, “William”, “Crystal”, “Connie”, “Celeste”.

 

Those are the people who our hearts ache for- her family.  Wife and mother; mother-in-law to Chris, Shannon, Daniel, and Joshua; Austin is to be officially ushered in as well, Lord willing, in May, when he and Celeste wed. Grandchildren:  Alex, Evan, Faith; Zachary, Juliana, Abby and their unborn sister. Brother Michael; sister-in-law Cathy; in-laws, nephews, nieces, cousins, and hundreds of brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

We remember her serious side- what a Bible scholar she was!  It was mentioned this past weekend how she was an inspiration to the teachers and preachers at meetings. She took notes, asked penetrating questions, and gave positive feedback with her interested, pleasant expression.  

 

She was a marvelous Bible class teacher- her preparation for her lessons was legendary, and her mind was filled with Scripture. David shared with us yesterday after church services in Gingellville, Michigan (her home congregation) that not long ago, she had memorized the book of Philippians, and that she and Dave had read the entire Bible in 2012 out loud to each other, taking turns with the verses.

 

While I was there (Gingellville) yesterday, I peeked into the classrooms and could see her influence. Models of the tabernacle, charts to track students’ progress, pictures, posters, visual aids for familiar stories. Even the ladies room at the church building reflected the touch of Chryste. It had the familiar symbol for ‘women’ on the door, but had been embellished with scripture in Chryste’s distinctive handwriting- Proverbs 31- the passage on the attributes of the virtuous woman. That same passage was included in Chryste’s memorial booklet-and was an accurate description of her.

 

We remember her talent- can’t you just hear her singing in your mind right now? Her clear soprano and Dave’s tenor just went together hand in glove. When they sang by themselves, or with their family, or in the assembly, it provided more meaning and joy.

 

She had a great sense of humor- all those songs. We were always ready to hear an encore of “Fried Ham”. She had a seemingly endless catalog of songs, and could remember all the words.

 

The Evans crew arrived in the Midwest from California in 1982 and began meeting with the church at Prince Road. They were the catalyst for the Midwest Campout- a daughter of the campout in California. The Evans had energy and ideas, the perfect match for Prince Road’s talents of hard work and practicality.  We loved seeing the Evans family come into the church auditorium- frequently a little late, since they had such a long drive from St. Charles, MO, and from what we understand, operating on “Chryste Time”.

 

“Chryste Time” was coined by Dave to describe how she worked so hard to make everything ‘just so’- and the time it took to accomplish that. The family was made up of individuals, but Chryste melded them into a unit- their church clothes always seemed to match. We remember a parade of pastels- everyone in pink, or yellow, or green, or blue. The girls’ dresses and hair décor; guys shirts and ties. Wintertime would bring out the red outfits.

 

I didn’t realize that red was her favorite color until it was requested that funeral attendees wear red in her honor. Looking around the room at the funeral home, and the sea of red- the clothes, the flowers, it made us all match. We became Chryste’s matching family members, and we all mourned together at our loss. 

 

But we rejoiced for her- this was what she, and all those who believe, was/are preparing for. She preceded us, but really, it won’t take that long for the rest of us to follow. So we will try to be patient, and endure and work, so we will not be separated eternally.

 

Funerals give us the jolt we need when we become casual about what life really is. I am thankful to Chryste and Chryste’s family for a needed reminder of what is really important-faith, family, love, dedication to things that are truly good.

And everything turned out fine, and we went home.

Thought I would start with the ending first.

Yesterday I came home from work, and Tom was upstairs sleeping. He had told me that he was going to do radio talks yesterday, so I didn’t think anything of it- that he was resting. He paces himself nowadays, and after working for several hours, he will take naps. I had come home a little later than usual, and it was about 8 pm before I decided to go check on him. He told me that he was sick. Well, ‘told’ sounds so matter-of-fact and conversational. It was more of a raspy murmur under the blankets. “I feel awful.” Those who know Tom, know that he is not a complainer. I also found out that he had NOT gone to make radio talks- he had been really sick all day long! I was alarmed, so I ran to fetch the thermometer and apply it. 103+!!!  Not good! Consultations with the nurse daughters, Grace and Candace, who recommended extra-strength Tylenol. Also some researching by Wendy- all were telling me that this was not a Good Thing, and could be a very Awful Thing for someone whose immune system has been compromised by chemo. Tom has been undergoing chemo for three years. All that time, he has not really had anything major-major, other than the side effects of chemo. We are so very thankful that Tom has been able to live a pretty normal life, even though he has been undergoing treatments for that long.

So I called and got our oncologist’s answering service, who then relayed it to the doctor on call, who glibly said that I should take Tom to the ER. Tom was not in favor of that last night. “Let’s wait until the morning”.

I didn’t rest very well last night. I felt that I had to check on him every couple of hours- bring him water or juice, take his temp. It was a relief to see that it had gone down a couple of degrees after the Tylenol.

In the morning, the Greek chorus of daughters encouraged me to get him somewhere to get a blood test to see where his germ-killing white blood cell count was. It was a little juggling, there was a class Candace needed to take for her own ICU job this morning, so there was some babysitting involved. She wasn’t gone long. After that, we all went back home. Candace and I tag-teamed Tom into the car and off to the hospital at about 10 am.

It was a relief at the hospital- we got right in, and they swooped him off. Turned out that they did a lot more than just a blood test. They tested this and that and the other. We had to wait awhile for the results. Tom slept after the testing there in the ER, and I got some quality dozing in a chair in the room. In the flurry of getting to the car to go to the hospital, I had forgotten my cell phone at home. Amazing how much rest I got without having that on me. But family members were anxious to know what was going on with their dad, so they entreated Verity to bring our phones. (Tom didn’t have his either) Verity made the delivery and then the text reporting commenced.

A side note- the nurse who took care of Tom was the mom of one of our sons-in-law’s best friend. (Huh?) And another nurse I talked to lives down the street from us. Nice to have that familiarity.

After 2 pm, things got lively. In the room next to us we could hear lots of noise and ruckus. A woman was brought in who had overdosed and was driving and had drugs on her and crashed her vehicle. I don’t know what all was going on, but I heard two police telling her that she was getting a DUI, read her rights to her, told her about the penalties involved. She was out of her head with the drugs, so our peaceful napping interlude was pretty much over.

Not long after that, the nice doctor came into the room and said that all of Tom’s levels were acceptable- he didn’t have the flu, he had a virus, which is probably what our grandchildren have been having. We were given instructions to get rest and chicken soup. Much better than the alternative!!

So five hours of hospital was enough to last us for awhile- I hope a good long while. We are appreciative of our children’s insistence; love and care for their dad. There are a LOT of things that could have happened, and it is better to err on the side of caution. Good to get it checked out, which Tom agreed was the case.

We continue to be thankful for all the prayers. They prop us up, provide strength and encouragement at all times!

 

Well- thanks to our crew, made up of the kids and the kids-in-law, we had a big clearing out of our basement/garage recently. Twenty-five years and six kids- the accumulation of the years was reckoned with. The dumpster was filled, many loads of various and sundry items went to Goodwill, the local library got stacks of books, son-in-law Chad took two truckloads of metal stuff to the salvage place. Son and sons-in-law did the heavy lifting, daughters cleaned and cleaned and sorted. Grandma mainly babysat, and tried not to get all sentimental about things that I have hung on to thinking that “someday the kids will need this”.

They don’t and won’t. It was ‘thanks, but no thanks’. I am happy they they are all hard-working productive people who are figuring out how to fill up their houses with their own stuff.

Back in the old days, Tom had his office and I had my sewing room, and the kids had their play area in the basement. As the house has emptied out, Tom and I have moved upstairs, settling into former bedrooms, making two of them into our offices. 

Now we need the basement for grandchild overflow- a place to yell and run and play and eat. It is a more healthy place as well, after many battles with drenching rains and leaks- anything that got in contact with water has been removed. The basement is an echo-y wide-open place once again.  

We are thankful this was tackled. I am so impressed with our kids. They are amazing workers, and they had fun doing it. So rewarding after all those years of telling them to “CLEAN UP THE BASEMENT”. This time it was their idea. We are blessed.

Verity was ready for some serious scrubbing.

The grandkids had their own agenda- have a good time with cousins!

The kids got so dirty after they decided to heap leaves on the trampoline- it was ground into their hair, their clothes, their skin. But it was BIG FUN!

Picnic time! Anytime you can have kids eat outside it is a win-win. (L-R: Moses, Emerald, Isaac, Calvin) They are enjoying the table Chad made last year.

The younger set enjoyed the Cheerios buffet table. (L-R: Silas, Edelweiss, Phoebe, Eli)

Two of our sons-in-law- Chad (Candace) and Kevin (Grace). Others were helping out, but not pictured. 

Phoebe can keep up with the big kids.

Emerald decided to improve her looks by decorating with a marker. We got it off before Mommy saw it.

We have family in town visiting. Some get up earlier than others. Moses. He and I had a nice ramble out in the yard this morning, checking out the plants and trees in bud and bloom. Peaches and pear blossoms are about to burst open. Forsythia is going to town already. We are foggy this morning. I told Moses that fog is a cloud lying on the ground. We talked about that for a bit. 

We saw some wonders that God has designed for our pleasure:

And our friend Velcro did some high-altitude grooming.

Moses produced this “Good Morning” artwork earlier today:

Good morning to you!!!  A chicken and a blue jay welcome you to the day.

A little later, a little lady awoke: Emerald

She loves to draw- and is very accomplished (says Grandma).

She had a little run-in with a KU landscaping stone last week, and took most of the hide off of the tip of her ring finger. Emerald got to be the first in the family to need an ER trip, and had seven stitches. Doctor says she should recover nicely. Good thing mommy is a nurse- she is an expert wound-dresser.