Many days have passed... The sun rises and sets and, by God's grace, we go on.

Everyone (including us) has gone home. Elizabeth and Ray were the first to go on the Sunday night after the funeral, being called home by work and doctor's appointments at the start of the week. I (Dan) maybe should have left at the same time, in the opposite direction, but a burned out headlight and the prospect of separation from my beautiful wife made for sticky feet. So, I left Monday morning, drove back to Ottawa, showered at home, then headed to work.

Darlene flew out of Toronto Monday afternoon.

Donald and the Noble kids stayed until Wednesday before beginning the colossal trip back to the Valley in NS (Donald, you impress us so much!).

Sheri and Susan drove to St. Catharine's and spent the night in the Hildebrandt home before bringing Elizabeth back to Belleville with them on Thursday. Dad took Mark with him to work and they drove Dad's usual Thursday route into TO and back.

Thursday night, just the four kids and Dad were home together... Mom would have enjoyed that, I think. :)

Friday night, I came back... After many years of being alone, I've very quickly become dependant on God's greatest gift to me; it was a lonely week without her and I longed to see her again. And as I type that... I realize that I have no conception of what Dad is going through. And my heart breaks for him.

It was good to be together again. I know not why God has been so good to me, but I thank Him from the bottom of my heart for the amazing souls, of whom I am hardly worthy, that call me son and brother...

Saturday had pretty good weather, so Mark, Dad and I, added insulation to Dad's attic. Mark did the real work of scuttling around the attic in the insulation dust with the output hose while Dad and I took it relatively easy, feeding bales into the blower. A few hours of work followed by a bite at Timmy's made for a good day with the boys.

The girls were shopping. And made good work of it, too. All of us guys had new shirts by the end of the day...

Sunday we went to Dad's church for another great message from Pastor Visser... "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

Dad took us all out for lunch at Swiss Chalet... and then we went our separate ways. Dad took Elizabeth to the train station before heading home himself. Sheri and I brought Mark and Susan back to Ottawa where we delivered Mark to the airport for his flight back to Calgary. He got back to his home late Sunday night and was back at his workbench first thing Monday morning...

We were lucky enough to have Susan in our home again for Sunday night and most of the day Monday before she too, took wing and headed home.

...

And here we are. Sheri went back to work yesterday (Wednesday)... her coworkers have been amazingly supportive and understanding (ThankYou!) but I know they're happy to have her back.

...

Thank you everyone for all of the calls, all of the cards, the gifts, the flowers, the emails, the words of encouragement... We really do feel very loved and we appreciate your care and support more than can be expressed.

 

The rest of the family arrived last night and we've had some time to mourn together and share our hearts.

There's frost on the ground but it is bright again and we're preparing for the day ahead. It will undoubtedly be one of the hardest, yet...

If you're coming to Belleville and can't find a place to stay (there's a hockey tournament in town that has filled all of the hotels), call Maranatha Church at 613-962-2062. They are billeting visitors in the community.

Also, the church usually webcasts the services they host. At this point, technical difficulties and a conference out of town that has pulled away the usual staff, have made the webcast unlikely. If you're not able to come, though, check the church's website (www.maranatha-church.com) tomorrow morning. It may be that something will be worked out by then.

 

Another hard day has dawned... but we're thankful for the sunshine. And the emotional exhaustion even let Dad sleep soundly for several hours last night.
Elizabeth & Ray joined us in Belleville last night with their 2 oldest kids, Nikola and Nathan.
Mark and Darlene should be on their way from the Toronto airport by now... and Donald and Susan, with their 5 kids (Adriana, Evan, Cameron, Harrison, and Madeline) should arrive by suppertime (driving from Waterville, NS). It will be good to finally all be together again.

DONATIONS
For anyone wishing to make charitable donations in Mom's memory, the family is asking that they be made to the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (www.crwrc.org).

We received a call yesterday evening from Sheri's Dad... he hadn't been planning to go back to the hospital after work last night, but he called the hospital to talk with Mom. She had been moved from her bed of the past several days and he had some trouble tracking her down. When he did, he understood that her condition had worsened and that she wanted him to come to her.
On his way, he called us and asked that we contact the other kids. We called the family and contacted a number of our prayer supporters and were exhorted by our Pastor to go to Dad rather than wait for him to call us again.

We left for Kingston just after 8:00.
Dad was arriving at about the same time.
Friends had visited several hours earlier and have told us that Mom was quiet and tired but in good, peaceful spirits and not in any significant pain.
By the time Dad arrived, the doctor on call had administered morphine in response to significant pain in one of her legs. Dad could sense that she was uncomfortable and restless and, deep within, he sensed that the end was near. She knew he was with her but he could see in her eyes that her awareness was fading as the minutes passed by. A nurse came to attach a pulse monitor and couldn't find one in any of her fingers. She moved to Mom's earlobe and Dad says that it was just about then that Mom left. The time was approximately 9:00 pm.

Sheri and I arrived at the hospital shortly after 10:00... The security guards seemed to expect us and we were admitted without hesitation, but we didn't suspect anything more than that Mom was critical. We made our way to the wing where she was and they took us to a private room where we found Dad and our world was changed...

Some time later, after Dad had finished making a number of phone calls, we talked with the doctor on call for the night. He said that he had had no involvement with Mom's case prior to last evening when he was called about the pain in her leg. He said that having seem her then, not much more that 4 hours previous, he was extremely shocked that she had deteriorated and passed on so quickly. He was the one who had administered the morphine for her discomfort. At the time, he had suggested to her that the blood clot(s) in her leg was(were) most likely the problem and had suggested use of a clot-busting drug. Mom had been offered the same repeatedly before and continued to refuse because of concern that attacking the clots might cause a rupture of the tumor in her brain.

The doctor said he had no way of knowing what lead to her death exactly but that he was going to put on her certificate a diagnosis that the tumor in her brain had ruptured or caused blood vessels in the vicinity to rupture. He admitted, though, that although they had placed a filter in her bloodstream to catch any clots that might break free and travel to her heart, it was possible that one of significant size had reached the filter and blocked it entirely.

Medically speaking, that's all we know...
Spiritually, we know that Mom is home.
Emotionally, we're devastated... we miss Mom!

Visitation/Funeral Arrangements
-----------------------------------------------
Visitations:
2:00 - 4:00 PM
&
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Friday, October 27th
Steele Funeral Home
30 Moira Street West,
Belleville, Ontario
K8P 1S2
Funeral:
11:00 AM Saturday, October 28th
Maranatha Christian Reformed Church,
72 Orchard Drive,
Belleville, Ontario
Family Address in Belleville:
368 White's Road,
Trenton, Ontario
K8V 5P5

 

Here's our Beloved Mom! Looking serious and determined... but we know there's a beautiful smile and joyful laugh just waiting to come out...

She's in the Kingston General Hospital right now suffering from lung cancer that has spread to her brain. Her voice is just a whisper and the doctors are suggesting that the reason is swelling of the lymph nodes near her vocal cords in response to the cancer.

On top of that, she now also has Pneumonia and is very, very weak.

Nevertheless, the Lord is her strength and she is claiming Psalm 91 and Psalm 118 as her own through this time of trial.

Please pray for her!