On God and Philly Cheese Steaks Tuesday afternoon; 5:30pm. DeKalb Medical ICU Peter is having a pretty good day today, having rallied well from this morning. His vitals are good as they can be and his spirits are good. In his own words a little while ago, “I’m still fighting, never gonna quit”. After he said that, he engaged me in a conversation about the changes that have occurred in his life over time. The man has been witness to more than his fair share of pain having lost his brother, a best friend and both parents, each well, well before their time. Somewhere in that span he found God and began a spiritual journey that has brought him to this day and time. Confessedly, I myself have been in a spiritual drift for a bit too long and now find myself in awe at the magnitude of the strength and comfort that Peter finds in his Lord. His faith is an inspiration to me and – I hope – for all of us. Talking with Pete, the metaphor that immediately came to mind was that he’d been given a suit of armor to take into battle – the one he’s in the midst of now. In what may have been one of his most ably articulated responses he’s ever shared with me, he pulled his mask to the side and said, “yep”. I then of course did my best imitation of Carl Spackler aka Bill Murray and delivered the famous utterance “So I got that goin’ for me. Which is nice.” Gungala Gungala indeed. Things get very deep around here… Anyway… we were later having a conversation about all the love, support, prayers and good vibes pouring in from every one of you guys out there, and from the staff here at DeKalb – some of whom are beyond extraordinary – and the many angels intervening daily. He is so grateful and is feeling every last bit of everything y’all (said it again) are offering up. It means the world. The phone rang from Norwalk, CT a short while later from a long time and very dear friend Toni Williams. She, while sad to be unable to be here, had a very close friend who just wanted to stop by and set eyes on Pete, touch him and offer him Toni’s and her blessings. Pete of course agreed, and soon we were in the company of Wendy from Atlanta who was as kind a person one could ever meet. Wendy had walked into the midst of a high-level brainstorming session mapping strategy as to how we could source and acquire medically necessary supplies. Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches. I’m trapped here with no wheels and Sheila’s doing an 11 to 11 in the ER at her hospital across town. Multiple phone calls and google searches later we were at a dead end when who walks in, but Wendy; a friend of a friend of my friend who’d never met Peter yet immediately offered to drive the 15 miles to make it all happen. After a coffee-chocolate chip Gelato chaser Peter is now resting comfortably with decent stats, having addressed his sandwich hankerin’. Life is Good and so are people. Angels. Unexpected Angels. Thanks Toni for sending us Wendy! Peace. SB youtube/watch?v=8x-nQ-vPw5k
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 21:39:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015