Icebear
Andlig Ledare
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2011
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I come asking for the best of your thoughts and prayers for the wife and family of a great young man this morning and throughout this week.
A little before 4:00am I got the phonecall I have been anticipating for several days. Bryan was entering into his last hours. I quickly dressed and took off for the Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College. When I arrived his wife, her mother, his father and brother and sister were gathered around his bed.
Bryan's battle with brain cancer began when he was 17 and a senior in high high school. After those treatments we all thought he had beaten the beast. Later as I led Bryan and his wife through their pre-marital sessions we received the terrible news that the cancer had returned. As we met his fiance and he decided that they would go forward with the wedding and join the fight together. Again with all their spirit and will they confronted every decision with passion and faith. Again it seemed that the cancer had been vanquished.
Almost 2 years ago Bryan and Molly received the horrid news for the third time. They continued to explore every option and once again charged forward into the fray. Their families have been there with them every step of the way. Their places of employment have stepped up big time in support of this young couple. Their friends have continually assisted them with transportation and every other way imagineable. Unfortunately, what we willed and sought was not to be and at 5:50 this morning Bryan's struggle was over.
During the morning I was honored to be present and to care for the family who fought this for almost a decade. We shared prayers. We cried, we laughed. Most amazing of all of all was the steadfastness of Molly's love and care to the end. She sat of the arm of a chair and whispered soft words of love and grace into Bryan's ear assuring him that she would be fine, each person in turn told Bryan the same thing encouraging him to let the battle go. Molly's face the whole time as she whispered into Bryan's ear was filled with the most beautiful beatific expression of peace. About an hour after I arrived she whispered him out of this life and into his blessed rest. For Bryan nothing was more blessed this day. When the nurse nodded and said he was gone Molly looked up and said, "You don't know the peace I am feeling right now. Bryan said yesterday he was ready and that that had changed everything and was at peace." She continued, "I understand what he meant."
I then left the hospital after about another 30-40 minutes heading the hour southeast to our area and to the assisted living facility where Bryan's grandmother is resident. It is no secret when a pastor knocked on your door and enters at 7:30am that something out of the ordinary has happened. The next thought is what has happened to whom. That was the case this morning, too. Bryan's grandmother and I sat and talked for 30 minutes and after I had made connection with Bryan's aunt I left them to talk privately on the phone.
Please hold all these people in your thoughts and prayers and keep a little moment in there for me, too, because I'll need to bring this all together in a message later in the week.
All the names have been changed for their privacy.Thanks for your patience and for excusing my rambling and for any thoughts you can give to this courageous young wife and her husband's family.
A little before 4:00am I got the phonecall I have been anticipating for several days. Bryan was entering into his last hours. I quickly dressed and took off for the Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College. When I arrived his wife, her mother, his father and brother and sister were gathered around his bed.
Bryan's battle with brain cancer began when he was 17 and a senior in high high school. After those treatments we all thought he had beaten the beast. Later as I led Bryan and his wife through their pre-marital sessions we received the terrible news that the cancer had returned. As we met his fiance and he decided that they would go forward with the wedding and join the fight together. Again with all their spirit and will they confronted every decision with passion and faith. Again it seemed that the cancer had been vanquished.
Almost 2 years ago Bryan and Molly received the horrid news for the third time. They continued to explore every option and once again charged forward into the fray. Their families have been there with them every step of the way. Their places of employment have stepped up big time in support of this young couple. Their friends have continually assisted them with transportation and every other way imagineable. Unfortunately, what we willed and sought was not to be and at 5:50 this morning Bryan's struggle was over.
During the morning I was honored to be present and to care for the family who fought this for almost a decade. We shared prayers. We cried, we laughed. Most amazing of all of all was the steadfastness of Molly's love and care to the end. She sat of the arm of a chair and whispered soft words of love and grace into Bryan's ear assuring him that she would be fine, each person in turn told Bryan the same thing encouraging him to let the battle go. Molly's face the whole time as she whispered into Bryan's ear was filled with the most beautiful beatific expression of peace. About an hour after I arrived she whispered him out of this life and into his blessed rest. For Bryan nothing was more blessed this day. When the nurse nodded and said he was gone Molly looked up and said, "You don't know the peace I am feeling right now. Bryan said yesterday he was ready and that that had changed everything and was at peace." She continued, "I understand what he meant."
I then left the hospital after about another 30-40 minutes heading the hour southeast to our area and to the assisted living facility where Bryan's grandmother is resident. It is no secret when a pastor knocked on your door and enters at 7:30am that something out of the ordinary has happened. The next thought is what has happened to whom. That was the case this morning, too. Bryan's grandmother and I sat and talked for 30 minutes and after I had made connection with Bryan's aunt I left them to talk privately on the phone.
Please hold all these people in your thoughts and prayers and keep a little moment in there for me, too, because I'll need to bring this all together in a message later in the week.
All the names have been changed for their privacy.Thanks for your patience and for excusing my rambling and for any thoughts you can give to this courageous young wife and her husband's family.
