Wind Under Our Wings.

Marie, Jon, Rebecca and Paul. This was 5 days before Paul's accident. 16 months later I
found myself back at the beach and remembering this day.





















Here we all are looking at the tiny crabs that are in
the shell Paul is holding. I still have the shell, which
I put on the hutch with an angel statue behind it.



God always knows what we need, when we need it. His timing is incredible, even though I personally feel He sometimes waits too long to get things done.............smile.
But, just in the nick of time, I was graced with the chance to spend the last 4 days with my sisters, Beverly, Kelly and Mary Beth! I know for a fact that none of our husbands would have found all the things we laughed about as funny as we did, nor would they have enjoyed being along on the day we browsed through all those gift shops. Which made it all the more enjoyable for us since we didn't have to worry about anyone's needs in all that time. What a magnificent gift from God...........SISTERS! I treasure this gift so much. And today, at 6:30 Mass, I thanked God over and over again for the love, laughter, joy and rest that we all shared. Our God is an awesome God!

The timing of this mini-vacation was so awesome. I didn't realize just how beat down I was until I woke up Friday morning and listened to the gentle rain that was falling. I truly felt the fatigue that permeated my entire body. Throughout the weekend, I spent many moments soaking in the beauty of the sun, glinting on the waves pounding on the shore, shining warmly on me as I sat by a window or setting gloriously each evening with an array of colors. On Saturday, as I walked along the shore, with the cold water rushing around my feet and the roar of the waves that were crashing after the storm had passed, I could not help but shed tears. As soon as I stepped onto the beach I remembered the last time I was walking along the shore was with Paul, Jon, Marie, Jon Sr. and Geneva. We were down in Florida only 5 days before Paul's accident and it was an incredibly fun weekend. The whole scene flashed back into my mind and I could not hold back my tears remembering how Paul looked and how well he was. I noticed there was a shell on the beach that looked just like the one I kept that Paul used to scoop up sand to show us the little sand crabs. So I picked up the one that was on this beach and walked along and prayed to God to give me the continued strength I would need to get Paul back to his fullest recovery. I looked long and hard at the beauty around me, so that I could remember it and draw on its beauty in the future, when I might need what I refer to as a "Calgon Moment" - a quick mental retreat to revive my spirits. On Sunday morning, I got up very early and got dressed quickly to walk to the block over to the beach and watch the sunrise. I thought I was being very quiet, but Mary Beth heard me and got up to see who was up and where they were going. She asked me to wait and then she and I hurried over to the beach. The sun was up just a bit over the horizon and the sun was shining brilliantly across the water. The surf was still crashing loudly as the tide was in. We stood and watched out over that expanse of deep blue and stood quietly in the spectacular beauty of the morning. We were blessed with so many sights. There were dolphins jumping out of the sea as they made their way in a southerly direction and then there was a yacht out on the horizon that was traveling back North. There was a large flock of birds that appeared to be migrating North also. Then there were 3 pelicans that skimmed for about 1/2 a mile over the surface of the cresting waves - which was so amazing to see how close to the water they were and yet did not touch down. They didn't move their wings at all. I believe the current off the waves were keeping them up. It was beautiful to see. We stood out there for over an hour, then went back to the house to get ready for Mass.

For 4 days, I got to enjoy the great view of the ocean from one side of the house and the more quiet scene of the coastal waterway from the deck on the other side of the house. No matter what window I looked out, there was a peaceful sight to take in. And inside the house - the love of my sisters being shared. Awesome, Awesome, Awesome.

And about the timing of this vacation that I mentioned earlier. With renewed strength and hope, we started home. Jon and Paul were on their way home from Charlotte, where they did another adjustment to Paul's shunt. I had heard how well Paul had been all weekend. He even went swimming on Friday and had done a lot of excercising and pushed himself a lot harder than Jerry thought he was capable of. He has called me and I put him on speaker phone so we could all say hello to him. He got a kick out of that and then told all of us how much fun he had at the pool. His voice sounded so much more like before and he was joking around alot. It made me so happy to know he was striving to move forward in his progress towards his recovery. So, we were a little over half way home when I called Jon to see if he had heard from the doctor's office because I noticed I had a missed call. He said he had just hung up with them. They had gotten the results from the lab on the sample of brain fluid taken earlier that day. It showed Paul was developing a low grade infection. An infection in the brain fluid may mean meningitis, which will be very bad news if it is. They told him that they would be calling us today or tomorrow after they confirm the results and will then get Paul back in to see a specialist who will deal with the infection. My heart sank when he told me this. I thanked God immediately for the rest He provided, because I was absolutely not very strong in the days leading into the vacation. I called as many family members as I could reach to ask them to pray hard that this will not develop into a bad situation and for God to heal Paul. Yes, I asked for nothing less than a miracle for Paul! I won't stop asking until we get more information and will also pray for Paul's strength.

I went to the reconciliation service at St. Stephen's last night and thanked God for this opportunity to receive this sacrament, especially if I have to take Paul back to the hospital in Charlotte if he needs to be hospitalized to fight the infection. So, like I said, God's timing is perfect even though I often question it...............smile.

I will update this as soon as we know more. I won't make you wait a minute longer than God makes us wait!!!

Thank you for your prayers today. As always, like the wind that carried those birds above the waves, we are carried by your prayers.

With love in our hearts for you,
Jon and Rebecca