Tonya Update 2

The doctor on call came in a few minutes ago. He said Tonya's culture was growing out something that I can't even pronounce much less spell. All I can say is it begins with a C. He said Tonya is on the correct antibiotic for it and so far her temp has been around normal for the last couple of days. This is good news. He also said her potassium level is back up to normal today. This is yet another piece of good news. Tonya's doctor will be back on Monday and we will see how things are going then. Right now we are only expecting improvement as time progresses. Thanks to everyone for your prayers.

Until tomorrow, Brian

Tonya Update 1

The doctor came in this afternoon and said Tonya is losing potassium and he doesn't know why. She is receiving potassium I.V. and the doctor said that should be enough to get it back to normal but so far he is still having to give her a pill by mouth too. He said he doesn't know why this is such a problem.

He also said the urine culture is showing there is an infection present but he still won't know for sure what type until about 6 PM tomorrow. He said he hopes it isn't the V.R.E. again but won't know for sure until the final culture report comes back in 3 more days.

That's about all for now. Until tomorrow, Brian

Tonya

On Wed. Tonya was put back into the hospital. She was feeliing very bad and could not keep anything on her stomach. They took some blood and a urine culture. The doc came in yesterday afternoon and said the urine culture was already growing out stuff and that he hoped it was not the V.R.E. again. He also said her white blood cell count was elevated and there were white cells in her urine. This is an indication of yet another kidney infection.

Tonya is still feeling bad and I know this because she doesn't want to talk. She is in Stringfellow Hospital room 357. The number to her room is 256-235-8357. She has her cell phone with her too and that number is 613-3486.

The doctor hasn't been by this morning but as soon as he comes by I will send another update if there is anything new. Brian

Dee Update

We just got back from the doctor. He pulled out the cotton and the straws and she is doing much better and is breathing better than before the surgery. She also doesn't look like a juvenile walrus. I slept in the recliner next to her, and I use the term "slept" loosely. I have fed everything around here that walks and I am going to bed, the real bed! Bill

Dee Fortner

Miz Dee’s Nose surgery went well. The doctor was very pleased with the outcome. Miz Dee is in some pain and hasn’t had much nice to say about the outcome, the doctor, the weather or things in general. However, rest assured that I, her long-suffering husband, am waiting on her hand and foot to make her as comfortable as possible. She should be much better tomorrow when the plugs are removed from her nose and she won’t be breathing through two straws. I must hasten back to her side in case she needs, wants or thinks about something I need to do. Bill

Magnolias

I spent the week before my daughter's June wedding running last-minute trips to the caterer, florist, tuxedo shop, and the church about forty miles away.

As happy as I was that Patsy was marrying a good Christian young man, I felt laden with responsibilities as I watched my budget dwindle...so many details, so many bills, and so little time.

My son, Jack, was away at college, but he said he would be there to walk his younger sister down the aisle, to take the place of his dad who had died a few years before. He teased Patsy, saying he'd wanted to give her away since she was about three years old!

To save money, I gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. Their luscious, creamy-white blooms and slick green leaves would make beautiful arrangements against the rich dark wood inside the church.

After the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, we banked the podium area and choir loft with magnolias. As we left just before midnight, I felt tired but satisfied this would be the best wedding any bride had ever had! The music, the ceremony, the reception - and especially the flowers - would be remembered for years.

The big day arrived - the busiest day of my life - and while her bridesmaids helped Patsy to dress, her fiance, Tim, walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check. When we opened the door and felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted; and then I saw them - all the beautiful white flowers were black. Funeral black. An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, and on that hot summer day, the flowers had wilted and died.

I panicked, knowing I didn't have time to drive back to our hometown, gather more flowers, and return in time for the wedding.

Tim turned to me. "Edna, can you get more flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these arrangements."

I mumbled, "Sure," as he be-bopped down the hall to remove the dead flowers.

Alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams in the arched ceiling. "Lord," I prayed, "please help me. I don't know anyone in this town. Help me find someone willing to give me flowers - in a hurry!"

I scurried out praying for four things: the blessing of white magnolias, courage to find them in an unfamiliar yard, safety from any dog that may bite my leg, and a nice person who would not get out a shotgun when I asked to cut his tree to shreds.

As I left the church, I saw magnolia trees in the distance. I approached a house...no dog in sight. I knocked on the door and an older man answered. So far so good.....no shotgun.

When I stated my plea the man beamed, "I'd be happy to!"

He climbed a stepladder and cut large boughs and handed them down to me. Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload into my car trunk, I said, "Sir, you've made the mother of a bride happy today."

"No, Ma'am," he said. "You don't understand what's happening here."

"What?" I asked.

"You see, my wife of sixty-seven years died on Monday, on Tuesday I received friends at the funeral home, and on Wednesday"... he paused... I saw tears welling up in his eyes... "On Wednesday I buried her." He looked away. "On Thursday most of my out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday - yesterday - my children left. This morning, he continued, I was sitting in my den crying out loud. I miss her so much. For the last sixteen years, as her health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me. This morning I cried, who needs an eighty-six-year-old wore-out man? Nobody! I began to cry louder. Nobody needs me!"

"About that time, you knocked, and said, 'Sir, I need you'."

I stood with my mouth open.

He asked, "Are you an angel? The way the light shone around your head into my dark living room..."

I assured him I was no angel.

He smiled. "Do you know what I was thinking when I handed you those magnolias?"

"No.”

“I decided I'm needed. My flowers are needed. Why, I might have a flower ministry! I could give them to everyone! Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at times like that and I have lots of them. They're all over the backyard! I can give them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home.”

I drove back to the church, filled with wonder. On Patsy's wedding day, if anyone had asked me to encourage someone who was hurting, I would have said, "Forget it!" It's my only daughter's wedding, for goodness' sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone today. But God found a way...through dead flowers.


THIS IS SO TRUE, BEING NEEDED IS SO UPLIFTING TO EACH OF US.


"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.

It's the way it is.

The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."

If you have missed knowing me, you have missed nothing.

If you have missed some of my emails, you may have missed a laugh.

But, if you have missed knowing God, you have missed everything in the world.

May God's blessings be upon you.